Lots of different design tools have been used here to maximise their impact.
- The jarring bright colours…
- The background of sharp angles which stretch and push against the narrow sides of the spine
- The contrasting blocks of type which are used for the title and are spread down the length of the spine
It should be a mess: Too many things going on and too many of them clashing directly with each other.
And yet…these spines not only work. They are gorgeous
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This is one of our favourite sorts of jacket — ugly… but very, very effective.
What we love about this cover is the fact that the title is allowed to do all the talking. Very few people are likely to know what it means at first glance, but its brashness forces you to pick up the book and find out more.
The use of a very understated font to spell out the meaning of DUFF is absolutely brilliant, too. It takes the reader from the big, confident statement of the title to a sudden anticlimax and a sense of something shameful, brilliantly mirroring the arc of the story.
The natural image is also really well considered. In a market swamped by Photoshopped partial faces, this makes a refreshing change. Its downbeat style actually gives the book far more shelf presence than many of its stylised — and generic — competitors.
By our new Fixabook blogger… Ampleforth
This could have turned out a right mess, but in fact it’s brilliant. It communicates one message — “fonts have stories to tell” — with total clarity, while a secondary message — “… and you care about them” — develops slyly in the background.
From a design point of view, setting each font’s name in … er, itself is both obvious and dangerous. The danger is that the reader’s eye is repelled by visual chaos, but that’s avoided in two ways. Firstly, with a bit of restraint: eight different fonts are used, and that’s plenty when they’re as different as Helvetica and Baskerville. Secondly there’s a really nice, and rare, example of the copy actually helping the design. Because the blurb starts with an unexpected and punchy claim — “Just My Type is a book of stories” — then develops its argument in short, rhythmical steps, you’re drawn to carry on reading. And because you’re reading it, rather than just looking at it, each of the fonts plays its part in the argument rather than just sitting there looking messy.
The blurb’s secondary message is beautifully judged. Your interest has been aroused by the font stories mentioned at the start (why did Obama choose Gotham?) now the blurb reminds you what that interest might mean about you: that you care about fonts. It even cutely allows you not to have quite realised that fact up till now, with “… typefaces became something we realised we all have an opinion about”. The subtext is “it’s ok, we were surprised too.”
My only gripe with this blurb is with the two promises which close it — that you’ll discover the best and worst font in the world and “what your choice of font says about you”. They’re superfluous. The reader has just been cleverly reminded that they care about fonts, so there’s no need to bolt on more ‘benefits’, for them in such a Cosmo quiz way.
This is a blurb that assumes a bit of sophistication in its audience — it expects some of us to know that Helvetica is ubiquitous and Comic Sans is a joke — but it doesn’t take it for granted that we’ll shell out money for a book about them. It sidles up alongside our mild font-interest and nudges it into £9.99 (before discount) worth of curiosity. No wonder the book is selling.
At long, long last… a women’s fiction title that hasn’t resorted to a headless woman, romantic urban purple or any of the other slavishly followed trends in the genre.
Instead, this is a cover that treats its potential readers as intelligent beings with a sense of humour and an eye for good design. And by doing so, it gives itself enormous impact on a crowded shelf.
The designer has, quite rightly, let the title do the talking, as this is what resonates so cleverly with anyone with a family. This allows for a clean and bold approach.
We have two quibbles, though. The first is the girliness of the hand at the top, which suggests loss of nerve about doing something so different. It’s a shame, as to make it more neutral would have given this book One Day-style crossover appeal to both men and women.
We’d also question the need for the strapline here. It does nothing to explain the title and clutters up the design. Again, it feels as though someone at Hodder has had a panic about being too bold - as many publishers seem to do these days, judging by the recent proliferation of straplines on fiction. In this case, the title is absolutely strong enough to carry this book and attract readers on its own.
But overall, this is a big success both on the shelf and online. It’s perfect, too, for getting recognition on the daily commute as it looks so striking and original. Nice work.
Ah…so what was an original idea is now ‘The New Thing’
Why is it proving popular in these tough economic times when production costs are being kept to a minimum?
1) It catches the eye on the shelf — thus giving the books more presence and stand-out
2) It means retailers are likely to stock at least two copies of the book (side-by-side) giving it more prominence and maybe even making it look like a ‘bigger’ book than it is in reality.
Simple but effective.
We much prefer the impact of the “Pure’ version but now are we about to see a deluge of “Cover Twins” ?
How nice to see a tiny publisher doing something so brave with their blurbs.
This is a travel book — chronicling the adventures of a biker as he traverses the Americas.
It could so easily have been a splurge of prose about what happened and where: Kind of interesting but certainly nothing special.
Instead, Blue Footed (the publishers) have created a map of the journey and literally, ‘highlighted the highlights’.
It looks great and the bite sized chunks of copy suck you in far more effectively than a conventional blurb would have done.
The designers have also cleverly played with the title so that the ‘line’ it refers to is bought to life by being represented on the map.
While the bold use of black and yellow makes the whole thing especially striking.
All in all a very tight piece of thinking and a distinctive bit of design.
It is so good when the ‘little guys’ show the big boys how things can be done.
Straplines… shoutlines… copylines… Whatever we call them, and whatever we use them for, one thing is consistent — the inordinate amount of time, energy and heartache we spend on them.
This is a really neat example of a publisher using a big fat spine to get as much value as possible out of a copyline. The horizontal positioning immediately breaks up the flow and catches the eye. It’s a simple question — “When you are alone, who will protect you?” — but it gives the book an extra hook in addition to the relatively unknown author. It also adds depth and intrigue to the title.
In a genre whose spines are dominated by spooky Shadow Men, this is a refreshing and intelligent approach.
Not exactly a fresh approach to a blurb.
BUT…what the publishers have nailed with this blurb is the consistency of the message:
“I cried with laughter”
“Laugh a minute”
“Hilarious”
“Funny”
“Witty and Hilarious”
That’s it — job done.
No one can be left in any doubt about what this book delivers for its readers.
Oh if only more blurbs could be this focused in their communication.
Here we have another epic battle between the UK and the USA
This time the book in question is Gold — The highly anticipated third book from Chris Cleave.
This one follows his huge success with The Other Hand / Little Bee and of course, his publishers on both sides of the Atlantic will be desperate to maintain the success of that novel.
So lots of pressure for everyone involved…
The USA publishers (on the right above) have chosen to ride the ‘continuity’ wagon.
Their cover looks very like the one they created for Little Bee. Quite clearly their plan is to stay ‘on brand’ and remind consumers of the imagery that adorned Cleave’s previous big seller.
This makes perfect sense and the cover looks fine. Nothing special and certainly a little bit too ‘One Day’ for our liking — but let’s face it — this cover isn’t about great design. It’s about looking as though it has come from the same author as the last one.
In stark contrast, the UK publishers have left the style of the previous cover far behind them.
In fact, they have taken such a radical turn, this cover looks unlike almost anything else on the market. It is extremely bold, will look fabulous on the shelf and just as impressive as a thumbnail.
From a strategic point of view, the important thing to note here is that the UK publishers have recognised the successful cover they produced for The Other Hand has been copied far too much for any kind of follow-up to deliver proper impact.
It might have looked like a good strategy on paper to follow the USA approach of ‘continuity’ but in practise it would have delivered a very bland cover.
So very bravely, the UK publishers have ‘gone the other way’.
They have jettisoned anything to do with Cleave’s previous covers and instead have chosen to remind consumers that Cleave is a ‘big author’ by producing a design that is so different from anything else out there that he stands quite on his own.
This is bold publishing, we applaud it wholeheartedly and are quite sure that it will work..
At first glance, you might be surprised we picked this one. It’s very lovely, but rather recessive and understated.
But that’s just why we like it. Historical biography of women is increasingly falling prey to the unstoppable rise of the Headless Woman phenomenon. Not content with decapitating fictional heroines, publishers are increasingly lopping the heads off people who actually existed, from Catherine of Aragon to Effie Gray.
So hats off to Virago for having the courage to do something completely different with this one. Its cool, retro approach, line drawing and flat colour will stand out a mile amongst the velvet-clad, headless horrors on the covers of its competitors.
