Game of Shadows
Like the conversation we had about the photo used on the cover of American Ally, this photo makes me think about the process of photo selection and, of course, book cover design.
That's admitted-steroid-user Jason Giambi next to Bonds. Guilt by association?
I find this cover interesting because it could have gone several ways. I sort of expected a photo of Bonds glaring into the camera -- something not flattering, as in this photo of Hillary Clinton used on The Truth About Hilary. I more than half-expected at least one syringe somewhere. And a cartoonishly huge Barry Bonds wouldn't have come as a shocker.
In the end, though, this looks like a sports book -- like a biography of Lance Armstrong or Michael Jordan or whomever. And I think there's virtue in the restraint of the design.
3 comments:
I'm not sure that the type placements are working well with the image. Granted, there is plenty of space above their heads for type, which is great, but then the hard rule cutting off the area between type and image seems very abrupt. My eye goes to that blank, black area between their faces, and I miss reading the surtitle.
Perhaps a switcheroo, with the surtitle becoming a subtitle in between the faces, would have not only drawn my eye in but also given me more of an indication of photo's relationship to the book subject.
Sorry, I don't like it.
The whole thing is way too dark and the small text is nearly illegible (esp. the red parts), there should be less of it. The outline of the title should be bolder.
Granted, it would have been nice if they had resisted the urge to put "The Award-Winning San Francisco Chronicle Investigative Reporters Who Broke the Story" under their names ;-)
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