Er…not much needs to be said here.
Just look at this image of the spine on a shelf.
It is extraordinary how little it takes to stand out.
Simply by using bold blocks of colour and disrupting the conventional, linear approach to spine design, this book screams at you from across the store.
It ain’t rocket science.
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As ever, there were very few spines that stuck in our memories this year. Sure, there were one or two that evolved what others have done in previous years and added a nice twist or two (See Darren Shan and Ciara Geraghty elsewhere on this site) but yet again the overwhelming evidence is that publishers still do not take this aspect of their packaging seriously (despite it being the most visible presence most of these books will ever have in a bookshop).
Elegant. Simple. Different.
Here is a spine that kicks the asses of the books unfortunate enough to be placed around it on a bookshelf.
Just look at it.
It shouts at you.
The publishers have very wisely focused everything on the unusual title.
The difficult author name (Wu Ming) isn’t going to help anybody so it has been kept out of the way.
Instead, they have bought the cover image of a man’s face to the fore. This makes eminent sense as it adds a human dimension to the obscure title. Also, the image is cropped neatly so that we see just one eye peaking from round the corner of the spine. It communicates far more than one might expect. He looks…dangerous.
This is a spine that you want to pick off the shelf — just to learn more about it.
Job done.
We never said that publishers had to be original in the design of their spines — We simply asked them to put a bit more thought into how they might use them as a communication tool.
We have just seen a good spine for Ciara Geraghty (Elsewhere on this site) which took its lead from the spine for The Raw Shark Texts (Also elsewhere on this site) and now we have a really strong set of spines for Darren Shan’s ‘Demonata’ series inspired by no less a publishing power-brand than the Mr Men series.
It might be an old trick but just look at how well it stands out on the shelf.
And it will fit perfectly with the ‘Collector / Completist’ tendencies’ of many of its young male audience.
Sometimes designers don’t need to re-invent the wheel to make an impact — they just need to put in a bit of effort.
At last somoene has followed the lead of The Raw Shark Texts (see elsewhere on this site) and used the spine of their book to communicate key marketing messages.
This is such a simple, clever and powerful trick it is astonishing that more publishers don’t try it.
Until they do, Finding Mr Flood will continue to look special and pop out from the other books on the shelf.
No points to the publishers for originality but much credit for showing that they believe in this author and are looking at every angle they might leverage to give her a competitive edge
Good luck to them.
Here is the title of a book that is almost a brief in itself.
No room for messing about here — keep it simple or you have failed.
Luckily this isn’t the most demanding of requirements and this spine does exactly what it says on the tin.
The interest however lies in the name of the author…
On Amazon it appears as though this book has been written by Lord Saatchi which is a fine idea because his kudos gives the book added weight and importance. As the founder of one of the most influential advertising agencies in UK history, he helped redefine the British cultural, political and economic landscapes.
On the spine however, we don’t find Lord Saatchi’s name at all.
Instead we see the words M&C Saatchi.
This is the name of his second agency and the one no one has heard of (Outside of the advertising world of course)
So..actually, what have we got here?
Quite simply, a corporate brochure for M&C Saatchi that has clothed itself in the credibility of a book, is promoted on Amazon, sold in bookshops around the country and has even leveraged a mini exhibition at the V&A.
What a brilliant piece of corporate promotion.
And who knows…maybe they even got Ebury to pay for it all.
No wonder the Saatchi brothers are so successful.
This a strong spine
The title is short and the author name has been kept clean and simple.
What makes it stand out on the shelf though is the blaze of white against the red background. It’s a starburst, for Christ’s sake — one that is presented in the boldest and loudest of colour combinations.
How astute of the designers to resist the temptation to go down the obvious path of depicting a shark fin on the spine. A black fin on a dark blue sea would have achieved little impact on a crowded shelf. The decision to go graphic and play with a multitude of fins has created something much more powerful.
It is decisions like these that make all the difference once a book loses its front-facing presence in store and thereafter has just 2cm X 19cm with which to make its presence felt.
The most arresting thing about the whole of this lovely cover is the illustration of the main character — it looks both endearing and tragic despite its simplicity. It’s a very wise move of Stripes to give it the prominence it deserves on this spine, as it will draw the eye and appeal to both adults and children. It also makes immediate sense of what would otherwise be a baffling title.
The typography is also a clever choice — unusual enough to attract attention but still legible.
Stripes have also taken the clever decision to give themselves a bold, confident logo that will unify their titles and give their imprint a recognisable identity and appeal across the crowded children’s fiction shelves, as Hay House have done in the MBS market. For a small publisher, this can be a crucial part of establishing loyalty among retailers and consumers alike.
How cheering to see a spine that works hard and looks good.
Hay House are in the enviable — and rare — position of having an imprint that actually means something to its market (in this case MBS). The name of Louise Hay and her eponymous list is incredibly influential in this genre.
Rather than letting the logo rest on its laurels, however, Hay have really gone to town on maximising their brand visibility by adding this wave device to all their titles. This is particularly smart at a time when less and less shelf space is being given to this sector — even in a small, crowded section their books now sing from the shelves when displayed spine-out.
Sure, there are inconsistencies of size and colour, due to the variety of the list. But by being the first to make such a bold statement Hay House have reasserted their authority and made their books instantly spottable.
To all intents and purposes this is a very weak spine.
The typography (which is just about legible on the front cover) is unreadable when placed on its side and reproduced at a smaller size.
Anyone scanning the shelves, expecting the name of the author or title to leap out at them, will be sorely disappointed.
BUT…
And it is a big but… this spine does work in a completely different way.
It is such a riot of colour and pattern that it puts every spine around it into the shade.
In an environment where everyone else is working to the same formula of (1) Title (2) Author (3) Small design icon, this spine takes a very different strategy.
Simply (and quite unapologetically) all it seeks to do is evoke the wonderful richness of the front cover design as a whole.
It is an interesting approach:
For anyone who does not know what the front cover looks like, this spine will fail.
But for grabbing the attention of the nonchalant shelf browser or, more importantly, for an audience who have a vague memory of seeing the Mr Pip cover in a newspaper review or being read on the tube, this is a winner.
I have to admit that initially I was really disappointed with this spine. After the understated vibrancy of the front cover (post to follow soon), it felt like a bit of an afterthought.
That’s what I thought while I held the book in my hands… But the minute I put it on a crowded shelf, I saw how wrong I was.
Its width is clearly a big advantage. Rather than cramming it full of noise and colour, Jon Gray has wisely used it to create a wide stripe of calm serenity amidst the on-shelf, spine-out chaos.
Its clean, clear colour means it avoids being recessive — instead it breaks up the shelf and draws the eye:
Really satisfying — and a great example of how important it is to test your spine designs in a real-world context (or even, as I did, on your bookshelf at home or in the office).
