The James Frey Neon Sign

Two weeks ago we looked at the US and UK editions of James Frey's Bright Shiny Morning. "Is that real neon on the UK cover?" was quickly answered by designer Jon Gray, who wrote in to say: "The type was drawn up first and then taken to a sign store and made up. The whole sign is about A2 size, so there are some incredibly intricate turns in there. A truly amazing skill."


Last night, James Spackman (the sales & marketing director of John Murray, Frey's UK publisher) pointed me in the direction of Frey's Web site and to this photo of the neon sign "(which) hangs in our office, casting a splendidly seedy glow all around..."

So cool...thanks, James!

Diversion Wednesday #18: Don't Put Off That Sightseeing Trip to DC

Because if you thought physics, World War II and chocolate had nothing to do with one another, you'd be wrong >>

The Political Brain

Designer info to come

I was recently in DC for the better part of a week, so I've got politics on the brain; I saw this in several bookstore windows. But the real reason I posted this is to point you to the great Wikipedia article on the Rorschach inkblot test.

FWIW, I see failure and disappointment.

Violence

Design by Henry Sene Yee

One of a series of covers Henry Sene Yee is doing for the Big Ideas / Small Books series from Picador. Big ideas require high levels of abstraction on the part of the design, but they still need to speak to the book buyer / reader. This nails it.


See another cover from the series and learn more about what's forthcoming over at Henry's blog.

Buy this book at Amazon.com

The Man Who Turned Into Himself

Design by LeeAnn Falciani

Any tale involving alternate universes should always have its characters wondering if their eyes are deceiving them, so this cover for a recent reissue passes the test. The yellow pupil? I like it, and I'm sure it looks great from across the bookstore, but I'm dying to know how many colors were cycled through before this was approved. My guess? At least 37.

U.S. vs. Them

Design by J. Wang

This is simple and rugged and beautiful in person, seeming almost like a still from a 1950s newsreel. And damn it if I didn't write down the designer's name. Someone help a blogger out? Buy this book from Amazon.com

Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System

Design by Carol Hayes

Written by a former policy analyst for Food First, Stuffed and Starved "show(s) how a few powerful distributors control the health of the entire world." What could have been a serviceable, two-dimensional, poster-themed cover becomes much more when that poster is hung in a shop window. For a serious analysis of a controversial topic, this is just guerrilla-ish enough. Buy this book from Amazon.com

What Chip Kidd's NY Times Looks Like; Mine Isn't Nearly As Interesting

Chip Kidd wonders aloud, and humorously, if the hand of God (and not just the hand of the paperboy) touched his New York Times. Read about it here.

New Ian Fleming Hardcovers

Illustrations by Michael Gillette

Wow. Just one of the 14 new Ian Fleming hardcovers from Penguin. And as usual, Penguin Senior Copywriter Colin Brush does a great job with the backstory. Check all of them out at the Penguin Blog. Fun use of the logo!

Bright Shiny Morning, US and UK editions

UK edition by Gray 318

New fiction from James Frey. Yes, that James Frey. Insert your own joke.

But on to the design: It seems almost axiomatic that a novel described as a "tour de force" sports a cover that is often well-crafted, but ultimately signifies very little. Indeed, what's a designer supposed to do with the story of:

"...a bright, ambitious young Mexican-American woman who allows her future to be undone by a moment of searing humiliation; a supremely narcissistic action-movie star whose passion for the unattainable object of his affection nearly destroys him; a couple, both nineteen years old, who flee their suffocating hometown and struggle to survive on the fringes of the great city; and an aging Venice Beach alcoholic whose life is turned upside down when a meth-addled teenage girl shows up half-dead outside the restroom he calls home."

Whew. I'm tired just reading the description. US on top; UK on bottom.

UPDATE: Designer of the UK edition Gray 318 says: "The type was drawn up first and then taken to a sign store and made up. The whole sign is about A2 size, so there are some incredibly intricate turns in there. A truly amazing skill." Thanks Jon!