A Little Perspective...
In the March/April issue of CommArts, there is a review of By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design, a book that many of you probably already own (alas, I don't). But here's a quote from the review that I love:
"I'd always tell myself, 'You're not the star of the show. The author took three-and-a-half years to write the goddamn thing and the publisher is spending a fortune on it, so just back off.'"
This from Paul Bacon, jazz album cover designer extraordinaire and designer of over 6,500 ( !!!!!!!! ) book jackets.
1 comment:
As a freelance designer and former creative director hiring book cover designers, I appreciate Bacon's attitude. It's NOT about us...as much as we'd like it to be.
And these days it's more about what the large bookstore chains want...we were starting to run our book covers by the buyers for B&N, Borders and such because if THEY liked the cover then they would order more copies from us.
As society becomes more homogenized and publishers fight to make a buck anyway they can, I expect that trend to continue.
But back to Bacon's comment...his attitude probably helped him become a more successful designer as it kept him in clients, which afforded him the opportunity to produce a few pearls.
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