Seeking Book Cover Success Along Mass

Our assignment for VISC 202 Typography this weekend was to spend some time perusing the local bookstores. Our mission, besides surrounding ourselves with good old fashion literature, was to discover the vast world of book covers. Good book covers. Seek them out and document.

So with my roommate and her smartphone in hand, we set off to The Dusty Bookshelf and Signs of Life to unlock the secrets to book cover stardom.

 I am a big fan of simplistic design. This cover succeeds in the fact that less is more (at least with the typeface). I also quite like the illustration, I loved paper dolls as a kid and I think they are very fitting for Jane's era.

 At first glance, I thought it was the work of Jessica Hische. Although it's quite far off from that gem of a designer, I still like the experimentation with the type. Experimental but readable. I like it.

 Great color scheme. Great message. Great type. Simplistic yet successful. Edna chose a wonderful book cover for this one.

 A little blurry (my apologies, I'm new to the cellphone photography hulabaloo) but I really liked the sophisticated type mixed with the red linear style. The silhouettes were also a very nice touch with Mr. Dickens piece of work.

 And look! 2 excellent covers in 1 book (this is the back of the previous picture). Slightly more detailed red linear pattern, but successful none-the-less.

 The orange was the first thing that caught me eye (very strategic in a bookstore the size of Signs) but I thought the type (simple yet intricate) was successfully paired with the cow's silhouette.

 Oh George. You caused me numerous headaches this summer in English 210 but the designer who created this cover knew their stuff. Big Brother is a powerful guy and without even reading this book, you know there's going to be an eye somewhere in this plot mix and it's going to be good.

In BDS last semester, in preparation for our book layouts, we were told to go to a book cover show and discover the wonders that designers there had created. Check out my previous blog post if you're interested: http://kwhiteman06.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-jackets-ronald-reagan-free.html. More book cover revelations...booya.