Leanne Shapton's Covers for Jane Austen Novels

Once again, Leanne Shapton has created simply beautiful work. After finding these covers on Pinterest, I immediately decided I need to own them... despite any desire to ever read any Austen.

Her use of watercolors is pretty inspiring. She always seems to know exactly the right way to illustrate the subject. And she never fails to do something really great with only black and white.

This reminded me so much of her book, Sunday Night Movies. 

Yeah, I'd seriously buy those Austen novels with no intention of reading them. 

Learn more about Sunday Night Movies over on Visual News and see more of Shapton's work on her portfolio.

+

some people always read Austen during the summer. Do you?

illustrated book jackets in similar colors

let's have all the kids review all the books

Alex Westgate's Illustrated Book Jackets

I didn't have a thesis project before I graduated, but if I did, I'm pretty sure it would have involved book covers. Obviously.

For his thesis project, illustrator and designer Alex Westgate created book jackets for three novels by S.E. Hinton.

Those colors! Swoon. Reminds me of these vintage Dick and Jane books. Also, I love this photo on Westgate's About page:

See more of Westgate's work on his website, or on Dribble—if that's what you're into.

via DesignWorkLife

The Windows Reflect Everything - An 826Chi Creation

I'm starting to get used to having my 826 HQ be a Space Travel Supply Co. instead of a Boring Store, but that doesn't mean I don't miss my 826Chi family.

It does mean I'm incredibly excited that "The Windows Reflect Everything" is now available for pre-sale. This past school year, I worked with students in a research class at Golder College Prep in Chicago and helped them learn a little about journalism. They did some amazing work, wrote some incredible stories and to see it finally being published is so exciting.

Seriously. You want to read these stories. Plus, that cover is pretty wonderful, too. 

You can pre-order your copy by emailing store@826CHI.org, or just stopping into the Boring Store. I'm sure you have some super secret spy supplies to pick up anyway, right?

Interested in learning more about 826's writing and tutoring programs? Or just really, really intrigued by these fantastic storefronts? Head over to 826National.org to find your local chapter.

+

more on 826
my experience at GCP

WMC Fest: Kern and Burn

This past weekend I volunteered as a photographer at WMC Fest 4. Last year, Weapons of Mass Creation motivated me to quit my job, leading me to a new life and career all the way across the country in Seattle. Needless to say, I headed to Cleveland last Thursday with pretty high expectations.

My expectations pretty much got thrown out the window before the end of the Friday night meet and greet.

This year was different, at least for me. It seemed more honest, more raw, more "hey, sometimes freelancing is hard and here's why. AND here's why we still do it and enjoy it." What I absolutely love about WMC is the intense community it creates. It's a space where it is safe to be that honest and open. A space to collaborate and share. A space to be inspired. (Cheesiness over now, I promise.)

So in the next week or so I'll be sharing a handful of posts about things I learned there, books I learned about and more.

Starting with Kern and Burn.

Tim Hoover and Jessica Karle Heltzel spoke on Saturday morning about their collaborative side project Kern and Burn. They created a book full of wonderful conversations with 30 leading designers. Kern and Burn: Conversations with Design Entrepreneurs is also just beautiful.

The book is completely two-toned and full of illustrations you'll be tempted to rip out and paste on the wall above your desk.

Tim and Jessica say about the designers they interviewed,

Our hope is that you can learn from them — not to follow in their footsteps, but to chart your own course in parallel, one that allows you to thrive, add value to the world and love what you do.

I meant to grab a copy of the book at the fest but time seriously just seemed to speed by and I only made it out of the gallery with a single purchase (I'm sure my wallet is pleased). Kern and Burn: Conversations with Design Entrepreneurs is available in both print ($30) and ebook ($15) form from their website.

And a small plea, don't buy this book on Amazon. For all their hard work, Tim and Jessica won't see enough cash back. Plus, their website is better looking than your Amazon shopping cart.

And a bonus lesson I took away from their talk:

A job is defined by others, versus a project, which is self-defined. Which means I need to start thinking of my work as a series of projects instead of one big job that seems suffocating. It also means I get to set the goals and the timeline. 

See also:
+ a few interviews with book cover designers
+ over a year later, I finally have one of these beautiful Storybook Posters framed on the wall above my desk. Peter & Wendy are keeping me motivated.

Past & Present by Amy Azzarito

One of my absolute favorite blogs is Design*Sponge and over the years I've loved seeing the different contributors that have come and gone from the blog. Amy Azzarito is currently the managing editor for Design*Sponge and I always love her contributions to the site.

This spring, Amy published her first book, "Past & Present: 24 Favorite Moments in Decorative Arts History, and 24 Modern DIY Projects Inspired by Them". It obviously has a beautiful cover.

The cover was illustrated, as well as the rest of the book, by the wonderful Julia Rothman and the book design is by ALSO. Lately a pop of pink (a color I've never really loved) has been so appealing to me so obviously I'm crushing pretty hard on this cover.

In a post about the book on Design*Sponge, Amy shared this little piece of insight on her love for art history, which I really enjoyed:

While researching all of the moments in decorative arts history for this book, I was continually reminded of my own personal design history memories. I remember stumbling across a book called "Life in a Medieval Castle" on my mom’s bookshelf. I was surprised to discover that rather than stories of fairy princesses and knights in shining armor, it was a book about how people actually lived in castles – what they ate, what they wore, what their furniture was like. It was the first moment that I discovered design history.  

I also loved learning that Amy was previously a digital producer at the New York Public Library, which wasn't on my list of dream jobs before but it might be now.

"Past & Present" is available on Amazon.

More of my posts about Design*Sponge
and great book cover design to swoon over.

Great Gatsby print by Aled Lewis

One of my favorite Gatsby cover redesigns is now available as a print.

The print is A4 size and an edition of only 250. You can buy it here.

Aled Lewis is an illustrator, designer and author based in London. You may recognize his Toy Stories series (which I also love).

More Gatsby love
and more posters and prints I'd love to hang on my walls.

(all photos by the artist)

By Blood

I get a lot of email newsletters from publishing companies and various book-affiliated places. I should probably open more of them. I can't remember what particular email I opened that led me to "By Blood", but what a beautiful, wonderful thing I found.

Ellen Ullman's latest novel is the story of a professor who overhears the therapy sessions of a young lesbian in search of her adoptive family. The professor takes the quest as his own and sends information to the patient disguised as mail from an adoption agency. This sounds amazing. It just shot to the top of my "To Read" list (Sorry, Nate Silver).

But very obviously what first got my attention was the fantastic cover, not the story it binds.

Really lovely design work by Rodrigo Corral (as usual), with illustration work by Adly Elewa. The two have been working together on a number of other wonderful things, that I'm sure I'll need to feature again on the blog soon.

Plus, another wonderful Rodrigo Corral cover
& a post from exactly two years ago

50 books/50 covers favorites

Of course all the books even nominated for the 50 Books/50 Covers competition are beautiful, but out of the 2011 winners, I've picked a few favorites. The six I've chosen are pretty telling of my current tastes as far as trends and colors go.

To see all the winners, visit Design Observer.

Also on the list was Cardon Webb's cover series for Oliver Sacks, which is absolutely fantastic.

melancholia covers

I'm so happy to have come across the work of Emmanuel Polanco, or melancholia. Emmanuel's collage and illustration work is simple and often has great punches of color. His book covers in particular are really beautiful.

I remember reading "The Pearl" in middle school and absolutely hating it but Emmanuel's cover for it has me thinking maybe it wasn't so bad and I should give it another shot. Great work on "Moby Dick" and "Lolita" as well, which are both frequently recovered by illustrators and designers. These are some of my favorites that I've seen since starting this blog.

I recommend clicking through Emmanuel's site to see more of his work.
And I still love these Vulture Books by Daniel Gray.

Bookstore finds

On a hunt to find my wallet today, I came across a sidewalk sale at The Book Table, a small bookshop in the town I work in. I picked up "The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight" for $4.

As usual, the cover caught my attention first and the content made me commit to a purchase. The jacket is by Tamaya Perry and I think it works really well for the subject here. I just finished "Eat the City" (review coming soon!) and am on a non-fiction kick now so another journalism book was just what I was looking for.

I also found two covers with lettering by Jessica Hische: Augusten Burroughs' "This Is How" and Dave Eggers' "A Hologram for the King". I have to say both of these were a lot more impressive in person, likely because of the mirror treatment on "This Is How" and the gold shine on "Hologram".

Great work from Jessica as usual. And it's always nice to see designs in person that you liked online. PRINT4LIFE.

Sidenote: a police officer just returned the contents of my wallet to my apartment, minus the actual wallet itself. Super grateful to have everything back though.

(not-so-fancy photos courtesy my iPhone / Hologram & How covers courtesy Jessica Hische)

Mini cover critic

Sometimes I forget that I probably shouldn't read funny things while I'm sitting at my desk at work. The newsroom is a pretty laid back place but that doesn't mean it isn't embarrassing to start laughing so hard I'm practically crying.

So if you're in a similar situation, maybe wait until you're home to read this hysterical piece by Sunny Chanel and her six-year-old daughter. Basically Sunny has her daughter view the cover of some of the most well-known classic novels and explain what she thinks the story must be about.

Here are a few of my favorites (Jane Eyre is definitely the best. Maybe just because that would have made Jane Eyre an interesting book):

For more, visit Sunny's post on babble.

Plus, some more Gatsby love
& my Animal Farm review

Vulture Books

Daniel Gray posted on his blog yesterday about a small personal project he's been working on: creating paperback covers for books featured in different films.

Here's what Daniel says about the series:

Vulture Books: classic non-fiction texts* illuminating the darker corners of human thinking, published as paperbacks for the first time. Ideal for sharing, pocketing and inducing metaphysical despair.* texts may or may not actually exist

He also created that little vulture character that I can easily see sitting alongside the penguins and puffins on my bookshelves. I love that he kept that same style that is so classic and timeless.

To see more of Daniel's work, visit his blog and website.


Plus, another personal cover project.
& because its supposed to be 100 degrees for the next two days.

Tess Redburn

Tess Redburn, student at Bath Spa University in England, created this beautiful cover for the Puffin contest to redesign Grimm's Fairy Tales. First, she laser cut her drawings into a piece of wood, then photographed them to create the book cover. I hope the piece of wood is hanging on somebody's wall somewhere because it really is a work of art itself.

Tess says:

I wanted the book to look like a solid piece of wood as an object to relate to the woodland setting of most of the stories.

For more of Tess's work, visit her portfolio or follow her on Tumblr.

Plus, this week To Be Shelved got some Knock Knock love!
& more about Knock Knock.

(found via Creative Review)

From Cover to Cover

Ever since I heard about Matt Roeser's New Cover project, I seem to be noticing more and more designers and illustrators redesigning covers for books as they read them. It just seems like a natural thing to do. I love this idea and have even considered adopting a similar project in the near future.

Jenny Volvovski's project From Cover to Cover is similar to new cover, but she has given herself some really interesting type and color contraints, which gives the entire project a nice cohesive feel. (Extra points because she's Chicago based)


Here are a couple of my favorites from the project so far:

And while I really love the constraints Jenny has placed on the project, I also love that once in a while she allows herself to break the rules.

She also recovered The Art of Fielding, a book I haven't read yet but have loved following the covers for. I think Jenny's version is great, and the green works really well.

I can't wait to see what book is next.


Plus, more redesigns
& a really cool bookshelf.


(found via Design Work Life, all images From Cover to Cover)

John Gall's new site

John Gall has launched a new portfolio site featuring his wonderful book covers and collage work. I've spoken about John before but wanted to take this new launch as an opportunity to share some of my favorite pieces of his work.

Plus, what book cover I loved exactly a year ago
& John Gall's Vladimir Nabokov covers

(all covers courtesy John Gall)

Re-Covered Books : Harry Potter

The Fox is Black has a great series called Re-Covered Books, which (obviously) challenges designers to create new covers for some wonderful classics. It is always interesting to see how people can make so many different designs and concepts based on the same story. And this round, it is the always wonderful "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" that is up for a facelift. Clearly, I'm excited to see the submissions.

As of the time I'm posting this, there are only 2 entries posted on TFIB. I definitely recommend people get in on these contests. Winner grabs a $100 for Amazon.

Also, my favorite entry from TFIB's contest to redesign "The Wizard of Oz"
And, more Harry Potter love here & here

(image via TFIB)

The Heads of State

Yesterday, I posted about a fun project from one of my favorite design studios, Heads of State. Today I wanted to share a few of the book covers they've worked on.

I really like how simple and clean these designs are, but they aren't boring. The cover for "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" might be my favorite in this batch. I always enjoy when a design for a series like that can fit the series but still stand out, and in this case, still carry a good balance between vintage and modern design.

And that quote at the bottom comes from the little intro statement on their website. The full text reads:

We are a mom & pop design shop. A garage band agency. A start-up that's been around for years. We make posters, books, illustrations, identities, you name it. But most of all we make ideas.

Awesome. Sounds like a studio that would be a pleasure to work with.

Learn more:
More book covers from The Heads of State
The Heads of State studio website

(all images the Heads of State)

Francisco Hernandez's "OZ"

One of my favorite blogs, The Fox is Black, has a great Re-Covered Books contest series that always showcases some great designers. The most recent installment in the series was a challenge to design a new cover for L. Frank Baum's classic "The Wizard of Oz".

Some of the submitted designs were covers I'd love to own. There's so much talent and creativity out there. My favorite was a runner-up in the contest, designed by Francisco Hernandez.

I mean, that's pretty incredible stuff and it is an absolutely stunning design. But I do agree with Bobby, the story isn't about money so the cover isn't a complete success but definitely worth recognition. I recommend visiting Hernandez's website to view his other work.

To see the winning entry for the Oz contest, CLICK HERE. The entry that won wasn't my favorite, but there were some great ones in the batch. CLICK HERE to see them.

Sahre's Watergate

This is Thomas Mallon's new novel "Watergate".
The cover was designed by Paul Sahre.
It is incredible.

Thank you, Peter Mendelsund for sharing this awesomeness.

With Science!

For some reason, a few people I work with have recently become obsessed with "She Blinded Me With Science" and they play the song about an hour before we leave for the day... not that I'm complaining. This experiment kit from LabRats and this colorful cover for "Periodic Tales" both instantly got that song stuck in my head.

The "Periodic Tales" cover was designed by Alison Forner, and the LabRats kit was produced by WORKlabs. Good book design is good book design, even if its a fake book filled with experiment tools.

( Periodic Tales / LabRats )