The kind of book cover that grabs our attention and begs us to dive between the pages isn’t usually what shows up on the NYT’s best-sellers list.
We are more often drawn to cobwebby corners, dusty attics, and other people’s bookshelves.
And on the subject of cobwebs! Here’s one front and center, surrounded by snakes and topped with a skull and crossbones, succinctly summing up the contents of Friedrich Christian Accum’s A Treatise on Adulteration of Food and Culinary Poisons. (London, Longman, 1820) Beware! There is death in the pot —and potentially in this book. Aren’t you the tiniest bit curious? We sure are!
And ooh la la! Regardez this French edition of Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, another tome that begs to be opened—there the man is, surrounded by strange flora, trapped on the island of the cover. Who are those tiny people? What are those strange flowers? Open the cover and discover! Jonathan Swift. Voyages de Gulliver dans des contrées lointaines. (Paris: Delarue, 1855)
For something more recent, the covers for Alan Bradley’s Flavia De Luce series rank high on my list of books we want to open. These designs feature plenty of negative space and yet — the cover feels full and rich. The color, typography, and imagery work seamlessly with Bradly’s odd title and pique our curiosity; further, they pave the way for the first line: “It was as black in the closet as old blood.”
You would expect a book on design to be designed well, and this one does not disappoint. Using black and yellow, the most attention-getting color combination we have, the cover of The Package Design Book communicates humor, practicality, in a smart and smart-alecky way. There is no ignoring this book; talk about packaging making its point!