Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Intro

So, this guy walks up to the reference desk and says, "I'm looking for a certain Holocaust book."

The librarian says, "I think I can help you. We have an extensive Holocaust section. What's the title of the book?"

"I don't know."

"The author?"

"Can't remember."

"The publisher?"

"No idea ... but the cover is black."

The sarcastic librarian then replies, "I'm sorry, sir. Our library doesn't shelve books by color, but you're welcome to browse. Let me show you where the section starts."

The more thoughtful librarian asks if he's looking for The Black Book of Polish Jewry ... and then shows him where to browse.



















An old proverb I'm sure that we're all familiar with warns us that we should not judge a book by its cover. However, there's also a different proverb which reminds us that a first impression is a lasting one.

Book covers can serve one of 2 functions :

(1) It can attract the browser's eye towards it and away from books nearby

or


(2) It can convey information about the book to the browser

It's my personal opinion that the most effective book covers manage to do both.

If a publisher has a title that sells well and then continuously uses the same cover design for subsequent editions, then the cover can become iconic.

The following cover, for example, should be recognizable to some of you :



















This one, as well.




Those who design book covers will often resort to using a type of iconic "shorthand". In the case of Judaica books, this means inserting easily recognizable symbols into the book cover, the most common ones probably being the magen david and the yellow star specifically for Holocaust books.




















Others include the Jerusalem skyline,



















the Torah scroll and matzoh ball soup.



















Although such "shorthand" is easier for the designer  and helps us distinguish between Judaica and non-Judaica books, it can make the covers seem uninventive, cliched, and mundane.

Of course, how much one perceives a particular book cover as being effective or ineffective, unique or standard, exceptional or dull, etc. is shaped by one's personal experiences and tastes. Having said that, I've tried to select several examples of what I consider to be interesting and impressive designs, as well as ones which I find to be specifically problematic.

First though, to better appreciate the evolution of book covers, I'd like to draw attention to 5 aspects of differential design.

The first evolution can coms about as a result of negotiation and experimentation. Not every book cover is the first-&-only design to be considered for a particular book, but we usually don't see the rejected ideas (known as "comps").

Kimberly Glyder is a designer who shares her comps, along with commentary about them.

One of the books she designed the cover for was Sonia's Sorrow.









































This is a concept sketch for the cover of the book The Journal of Helene Berr :



















Here, the Magen David is worked into the focus of the cover - the journal - as a binding. It's not as obvious as one usually sees on Judaica book covers. Alas, the cover was rejected.

Here's one of the covers that was accepted and used.



















A 2nd point I'd like to make is that the book's author can sometimes give input about the design, while in other instances it's totally out of his or her hands.

Joel Chasnoff, author of a biography about serving in the IDF, specifically requested that the book cover not contain any Magen Davids.

So, naturally, this is the cover idea that was presented to him :


















I like the idea of using toy soldiers, but the pattern of their arrangement on all the triangle's sides of the Magen David obviously goes against the author's wishes. So, it was back to the drawing board and here's the final result :



















A 3rd difference I'd like to point out is the one between a dust jacket around the book itself. Sometimes, the difference can be quite striking.



















This cartoon baby suggests almost nothing about the book unless one recognizes the cartoonist's style or knows who the character is.

By contrast,




















Here, if the imagery gets the book noticed, the browser can glance at the title and get a quick sense of what the book is about.

A fourth factor to consider is the way that new editions can result in new covers, even when the content is virtually the same.

Here's the concept art for the book The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay :



The image is symbolic, but makes perfect sense once you've read the story.

Now here's one of the covers that ended up being used :





The magnificence of the Empire State Building is retained, but without the locks and chains, the book could be about anything. All we can be certain of is that it takes place in New York.

This cover, meant to evoke a nonexistent comic book, as well as paying homage to the cover of the first issue of Captain America, gives a browser the sense that the novel has something to do with superheroes or comics.

Here's one of the covers used for a novel by a Jewish writer who lived in Montreal :

Looking at this edition, you don't really get an idea of who or what the book is about. You can't even make a guess at where or when it takes place.

By contrast, when you take a look at this edition

two of the visuals that stand out are the street sign (which clearly identifies the setting as Montreal) and the anti-Semitic graffiti which suggests that at least one of the characters is Jewish.

I found this cover difficult to interpret : the title, the white clouds in a blue sky, the outline of a human head, and the turkey. What do they have to do with each other or the subtitle?

Now let's look at a different edition :

All that remains is the turkey, but a section of text has been added. For those who know the Hasidic parable "the turkey prince"or "the rooster prince"(both stories are identical ; one just needs to substitute the word  "turkey " for "rooster"), the context of the phrase "under the table" is understood, as well as the use of a turkey on the cover.

Fifthly, if a book is sold in different countries, each country could be marketed with a different cover design.

Here's the cover of the (original) American edition of The Yiddish Policemen's Union. The banner artwork along the sides suggests that the book concerns Jews (also confirmed by the title) and takes place in the Northwest.


Contrast that with the UK edition shown below.

Going back to Chabon's earlier book, here's what the UK edition looked like :

Since escapism is a running metaphor in the book, as well as the hobby of one of the main characters, this cover tells us more than the skyscraper one did.

Here's how the Israeli edition looked :

Next, I will look at what I consider problematic covers.

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