Jim Tierney Covers Verne Covers, pt II

I have to say that there is nothing quite like seeing someone who is passionate about their work achieve something great. Which is why I was so happy to read on Creative Review today that Vintage is republishing some Jules Verne works and using the talented Jim Tierney to cover them. I interviewed Jim last year after I was completely floored by his concept covers for Jules Verne hardbacks.

CLICK HERE to see more of what I'm talking about, and to read my interview.

Congrats to Jim! 

(top image via Creative Review)

inbook

I feel like Etsy is such a huge universe and I will never be able to discover all the wonderful shops on the site. So, I feel particularly happy to have found inbook, a shop by the Neeleys from California.

Yes, these books will charge your iPhone or iPod. Such an awesome idea. And I love what the Neeleys have to say about their shop:

We love books, and we hate to see them neglected or not in use. We rescue them from certain landfill death, or from a dreary, immobile existence in the dark recesses of a disregarded bookshelf. Our goal is to bring more books into your life.

I also like that they haven't limited themselves to using only vintage books, but have incorporated the wonderful designs of Jessica Hische and Coralie Bickford-Smith as well.

And seriously, how perfect is the placing of the dock on this copy of "Jurassic Park"?

To purchase your own charger and see more designs, you can either CLICK HERE to visit the inbook Etsy shop, or HERE to visit the Neeleys' website. They cost about $50, which is probably less than what you were going to spend on a dock at Best Buy.

I'm totally asking for one for my birthday.

(all images)

Review: Adolphe

I'm not a big reader of love stories, and certainly not love stories set in the 1800s. I've never finished "Pride and Prejudice" and dragged myself through any similar reading I had to do for school. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those novels, I'd just rather read something else.

Which is why I was hesitant to even buy Benjamin Constant's "Adolphe" when I found it during a Borders Closing. But, once again, the clean design of the Art of the Novella series won me over and I took it home. And I'm glad. It was a great book to stash in my bag and read on the train. Plus, the length was perfect. I don't think I could have lasted much longer through the melodramatic 19th century love saga, but I did enjoy it while I was reading it and marked a couple of lines that I really enjoyed.

In short, "Adolphe" is about an affair. When published, it caused a huge scandal because it was believed to be about the author and a famous french writer of the time. It is definitely a tangled story and whether or not it is a sort-of autobiography, I was curious to see how the mess ended.

I've included my favorite passages under the jump with a few more photos.

Adam Johnson and Ray Bradbury

I know I've been talking about my new job a lot and not so much about books but there really is something great about having a job you truly love. When you care about what you're creating more than you care about your recognition or payment for it, I think that really shows in your work.

Which is definitely the case for Adam Johnson, a Senior Designer at Harper Collins. Some of Johnson's most recent work is this series of Ray Bradbury covers.

On his blog, Adam writes:

I have a passion for working on his covers because quite frankly the majority out there have not been done well enough. They seem to often paint him in a whimsical or comical light and do not take him seriously enough, nor capturing the beauty of his writings.

I want to use my powers for good, so-to-speak. I am passionate about things that are meaningful and enriching to the soul, like I find him to be. There is so much smut, filth, and degrading writing done with beautiful covers that I hope he now has fair advantage. I’m hoping new readership will come to him and that he will be seen for what he really is—a national treasure, a bearer of light & truth, and an enormous literary figure.

There seems to be a general desire among many designers I've interviewed or read about to bring design justice to their favorite authors and works. I feel like this is just part of the reciprocal relationship between author and reader, but an aspect that non-designers wouldn't really understand.

You can CLICK HERE to view some of Adam's other work, but I want to also mention his cover for "The Glory of Their Times". I have a vintage hardback copy of this book which I absolutely love and it makes me happy to see that Johnson's cover retains some of that vintage feel. In fact, I'm considering picking up a copy just to have the set.

I encourage you to check out Adam's website, including his identity and illustration work. I know that finding it has started my Saturday on the right foot.

(images / found via designworklife)

1 Week!

Tomorrow marks my first week at my new job. I couldn't be happier... BUT I have been neglecting To Be Shelved and I feel a little guilty about it.

I've been giving myself some time to get used to my new routine and 40+ hr/wk job, but once I'm set, I'm going to get my blogging act back together. Until then, I have been making some quick posts over on the To Be Shelved Tumblr. If you'd like to follow along, CLICK HERE.

I am so excited about some interviews and reviews and fun design posts coming-up though. Don't give up on me, internet!

The New Ghost

I've never been a big reader of comics or graphic novels, but I've always admired their story-telling structure and emphasis on illustration. "The New Ghost" is a beautifully done comic by Robert Hunter for Nobrow.

Here's what Nobrow says about the story:

The Iroquois believed that the stars at one point had all been mortals or animals, that the souls of the dead would rise to the heavens and pepper the night sky with their awe inspiring brilliance, giving us light in our darkest hours.

Tom has manned the observatory for years, working through the night to discover the mysteries of the stars and the cosmos, leaving his days to sleep. One morning before the break of dawn, He sees an anomaly through the lens of his telescope; a spectral form drop from the sky in mid flight only to land in a field nearby. With a mixture of trepidation and curiosity he approaches the mysterious figure and with every step unwittingly draws closer to the answers he has been seeking all along…

For me, Hunter's illustrations in "The New Ghost" have a "bedtime story" feel to them, and for some reason the story reminds me of Casper.

For more info on Robert Hunter, you can CLICK HERE visit his blog and HERE to visit his website. And to see more Nobrow beauties, CLICK HERE.

(all images / found via Creative Review)

John Green

John Green's "Embrace" is a really great piece of furniture. It can be used as a bookshelf, bench, children's desk, magazine rack, coffee table and my favorite, a breakfast-in-bed tray.

Not only is it really lovely, it displays your books so well, too.

The piece is made from bent plywood and is available in Birch, Oak and Walnut. Each shelf/table/thing of awesome is numbered, stamped and signed before being mailed from the UK, so you'd have something especially unique in your home.


CLICK HERE for more information on "Embrace" and other works by John Green.

(all images / found via Core 77)

Kubrick

Today is bittersweet for me, it was my last afternoon babysitting and tomorrow is my first day of my very own grown-up job. For some reason the pink tones in this book seem bittersweet to me as well. So today feels like an appropriate time for this post.

I know there's been a lot of hubbub lately about Kubrick's photography career, but this book was actually released back in 2005.

According to the Pentagram blog, the beauty was designed by Angus Hyland and his team. Of course, always wonderful work by Hyland.

The book is available through Phaidon in English, French and German.


(images)

Holiday

Look at this cute cover design for a made-up book called "Holiday". Created by illustrator Kiley Victoria Woolgar, and I'm assuming inspired by the Rilo Kiley song "It's A Hit".

View more of Kiley Victoria's illustrations on her Flickr or her blog. 


(images)

GOOD MONDAYS: Stop the Violence

The images in Francois Robert's skeletal series "Stop the Violence" are stunning. In collaboration with 3st, he recently released a book of the images paired with President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech from 2009. On his website, Francois says:

The human skeleton is a powerful visual symbol. It’s come to represent the “remains”, what’s left after life has ended, after the flesh and mind cease to function. In my photographs, I use the human skeleton as the formal visual element, the subject of the image. In this manner, the skeleton is both the protagonist and antagonist (the Buddhist notion about, “the duality of man” seems apt).

For each photograph I disassemble the modular system of the skeleton and reconfigure the elements to form a new image. These images are man made. Images of aggression, images that cause suffering, devastation and conflict. I intend the images to plant the notion of restraint and charity in an effort to promote peace and tolerance.

This project is so powerful and a good reminder of the human cost of war, which we seem to so often forget.

The book, published by Classic Color, has sold out but I hope they'll print more in the future.


(book / images)

Unpublished Covers

I always love seeing the covers that a designer went through before arriving at a final product. For how long the process can be and how many different designs can be considered, it always surprises me when I see tacky covers on bookstore shelves. I'm also surprised when I see the covers that didn't make it that I think are fantastic.

The New York Times posted this little collection of the "Book Covers That Got Away" in their Sunday Book Review. I think there are some really great ones in the bunch.

Some of my favorites:

What covers would you have purchased?


(all images)

Woop Studios

If you've been following along with my blog for a while, or hey maybe even just a week, it should be pretty clear that I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. So you can imagine my delight when I not only discovered these lovely posters, but discovered they are from Woop Studios, the graphic designers behind the Harry Potter franchise.

So many of these posters remind me of book covers and maybe that's why I love them so much. The illustrations are lovely and adorable and I'd totally frame a few for my own walls.

And of course, if you buy a box set, the packaging is just perfect.

(all images / found via Design*Sponge)

Book Cover Potential VI

I haven't posted any images that I thought would make good book covers for quite a while, but this is the one to restart them all. I love this instant photo of a bathtub from Etsy user EyetOy. I think it would work great for an autobiography or short story collection.

(images via Etsy / found via YoPablo)

Visual Mantras

I'm having one of those Tuesdays that feels like a Monday. Days like this require beautiful books like Ana Montiel's "Visual Mantras".

In Montiel's on-going Visual Mantras project, she focuses on cycles and repetition, revealing the meditative form of drawing. If you would like to learn more about the project and the book, CLICK HERE to visit her website.

This is a limited edition book with only 127 copies, which isn't very many, but some are still available. CLICK HERE to grab a copy, which will come with an original watercolor drawing by Montiel. 

(all images / found via Design Work Life)

Machine Man

The internet is such a huge space, and yet it seems to get smaller each day. For example, I saw this great post on the Vintage & Anchor blog about Max Barry's upcoming book "Machine Man". Apparently the publisher gave him permission to have Reddit users vote on the cover design, which is super rare and also super awesome.

The crazy "it's a small world after all" part is that three of the covers (1 & 2 & 5) were designed by Matt Roeser, who I interviewed earlier this week. I love pixel art and think Matt did a great job using it on the first cover:

I also really enjoy cover 3 but I think it would have been better to have illustrated knuts, bolts and legs instead of actual pictures cut out:

Quite honestly, the only covers I'm not crazy about are 4 & 6 but I would be happy to see the rest in print. In fact, I'm having a hard time picking a favorite. If you're interested you should head over to Reddit and let Max know which cover you'd like to see on shelves.

(images)

INTERVIEW: Matt Roeser

I'm not sure which came first, my adoration for Matt Roeser's New Cover project or my love for his LOST re-watch site. But since this is a book blog, I'll just be covering the first in this post.

New Cover is based on a pretty simple idea: Matt creates a new cover for each book he reads. He has yet to have a book cover published, but after positive feedback from people in the industry, he hopes to have his first published cover soon. New Cover has really inspired me to continue working on my own personal projects and to always keep creating, so I was really excited when Matt agreed to do an interview with me about his own design process and his views on book cover design.

ALAINA: So how did New Cover get started?

MATT: Since I was a child, I've always enjoyed reading and in high school and college, I fell in love with graphic design. In the back of my mind, designing covers for books has always been a sort of dream job for me as it melds these two passions. After graduating college, I went to work for Atomicdust, a graphic design agency in St. Louis. For the past five years, I’ve been making creative matter with them, and a few months ago, I decided that if i'm going to pursue my dream of cover design, I would need to actually focus on creating some covers.

So, I started taking some of my favorite books and giving them the covers I thought they deserved. As a lover of these books, nothing would bum me out more than someone walking past one of these titles in a bookstore because it happened to get stuck in a poorly designed cover. Thus, New Cover was born and my mantra was simple: I read books and then design new covers for them.

My interview with Matt is a little bit long, but he has some great advice and some great insight on the design industry. So if you have any interest in books or design or humans I encourage you to click through the jump to read more (if you don't like any of those you're probably lying).

Also be sure to check out New Cover for yourself.

GOOD MONDAYS: Rebuilding After Disaster

On Thursday, I'll board a flight and head to New Orleans for the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The Jazz Fest has become a bit of a family tradition and this will be our fourth year attending, as well as my sixth trip to the city.

I fell in love with New Orleans in an unconventional way. Before Hurricane Katrina I had never visited the area and didn't really have any interest in doing so. But when Katrina hit, I felt a connection to New Orleans that I couldn't quite explain. I was in a senior in high school at the time and ended up writing a story about families who were taken from their rooftops straight to recovery centers nearby my home in Michigan. When the story was finished, I began planning my first trip to help with rebuilding. Later, I wrote an article for my college paper about my second rebuilding trip (photo below: I definitely did not choose to match my hard hat with my shirt) and the impact it had on me, and why I continued to return to help the city.

I haven't participated in any rebuilding activities for a few years, but continue to support the city and look forward to my annual trip on an almost daily basis. In fact, the beautiful community I discovered and continue to admire in New Orleans inspired the Fleur de Lis tattoo that adorns my right wrist.

So what does this have to do with books? Well, right as I was about to create this week's GOOD MONDAYS post, I stumbled up "Rebuilding After Disaster: The Biloxi Model Home Program". The book is the story behind The Biloxi Model Home Project, an initiative of Architecture For Humanity.

The goal of the program is to provide design services and financial assistance for the construction of homes that for families in Biloxi, Mississippi whose houses were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Families are paired with a team of professional designers who work with them one-on-one to design a new home for their property that is not only affordable but is also sustainable and meets the area's new building requirements.

What an absolutely wonderful project. So many people seemed to forget that New Orleans wasn't the only city devastated by the hurricanes. Although I personally worked with Habitat for Humanity, I think it is such a great idea to have the designers working with families to build homes that work for them. So often I think we align "green" homes with lots of dollar signs, but these homes are sustainable and affordable.

To learn more about Architecture for Humanity, CLICK HERE, or to jump right ahead to purchasing the book (do it) CLICK HERE.

(images mine or Architecture for Humanity)

Become Someone Else

I love this ad campaign from Mint Vinetu, a bookshop where you can buy "preloved" books based on recommendations in English or Lithuanian.

My favorite is for "Frankenstein". Plus, check out how cute the Mint Vinetu shop/cafe is:

(posters / bookshop)