Journal Entry 8: Books Books Books

Since our book project is coming up, I figured it was fitting to have a gander at a few of the books on my shelves to get some ideas- and to check out some cool (and sometimes not-so-cool) typography and design.

This is one of my all time favorite books, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Several years ago I was perusing the Borders back home and saw this on the shelf...I picked it up and it was like love at first sight. I bought it solely for the cover! I like this cover for several reasons...First, I really like the color combinations. Cream, jade green, and dark pink go together very well. I also really like that the type-image relationship is 50/50. Neither is more important than the other. While I feel that the type could do very well on its own, the image helps too. The thing I like best about the type (although I didn't realize this before I read the book) is the delicateness of the type. The main characters, two girls growing up in feudal China, talk a lot of the expectation for women to be classy, demure, delicate creatures of mystery. Even when Lily and Snow Flower are driven to the hills when riots break out in their hometown, the women remain as delicate as possible in the presence of their husbands, families, and other refugees. The typeface really emphasizes this factor in the book. Overall the cover really relates to the story, which makes the whole package very successful.


The next book I chose to evaluate was a translation of the Popol Vuh, or the Mayan religious texts. There are some things I really like about this cover and some that I dislike a lot. The thing I dislike the most is that the subhead is bright red, in a decorative block typeface, and most importantly, is justified at 6 lines long. That's too much for the eye to handle. It's too hard to see, or even read for that matter. Reading the subhead makes me want to vomit because the red and grey clash so horribly...while reading, it sounds like the subhead is never going to end. It should be consolidated, put in a different color and in a different typeface. The things I like about this cover are the type-image relationship, the colors of the cover and the heading, and the hierarchy of the bottom text. The yellow and grey pop really well. The sheer size of the heading makes it stand out really well as well. I also like the placement of the glyphs/decorations on the sides. It appears as though the heading is sitting on the decorations, much like a throne. The only negative of this is how tight the author information is to the decorations. I would give it a little more space to allow for easier eyeflow. However, the sizing and hierarchy of this information allows for easy reading (for the most part). All that aside, If I could give a hint to the designers of this cover, all I would say is "white space".


The last book I chose to evaluate is Blankets by Craig Thompson. This is actually a graphic novel and might as well have gone into my comics entry, but this book has given me infinite amounts of inspiration for many things, the book project included. Craig Thompson is notorious for beautiful, whimsical hand lettering. This cover is no exception. The word "Blankets" seems to be floating up above in the trees, like winter fog. It fits very well with the image. It also helps to convey the beauty of the moment on the cover: two teenage lovers sharing a moment together when they are normally so far apart. The author information carries on the whimsy of the main title, although it is not hand drawn. It appears similar, yet more structured, that gives the headings good contrast. The colors are also very well balanced and well placed. I think there are only four colors used, yet the cover is in such good contrast. Overall this has been one of my favorite book covers and will help me greatly to design my own book cover.