Apparently, It's David Drummond Week
Design by David Drummond
I spent a few more minutes this morning looking at the 50 Books / 50 Covers selections again. So much great work. This one jumped off the screen:
A slightly different and far more successful approach than this, don't you think?
David, if you're reading this, I have to ask about the lips. They look like a woman's lips, and the history of blackface theater and iconography seems to be almost exclusively male. Could you tell us a little something about this cover?
9 comments:
The former is certainly far superior to the latter. The imagery is spot-on.
But I'm not so sure about the type alignment. Title center, subhead left, author right?
I understand your concern with the type jasfitz. However, I personally like the balance that is maintained while still allow some variety. A nice triangle is formed that allows all the elements to be well grounded.
I think this is a beautiful solution that says everything, without needing to scream it at us (much like the latter does).
The type is deftly handled in my opinion.
The flush-left subtitle and flush-right author name balance each other out quite nicely underneath the centered main title.
It creates a more dynamic layout than if the type were all centered.
I like both of these covers. Obviously the first one is more conceptual and visually striking due to the sudden contrast and elegant type play. But the latter has a special flavor and the image is priceless and speaks of another emotion. There is something almost sexy about the first one—is that appropriate for the nature of the book? Maybe.
Bert, I have to say that I think the first cover does more of the screaming visually—which is good for sales. The latter has a emotional effect on me. I guess because I find myself staring at a face that is staring back at me...
If you follow the "history of blackface theater..." link to Wikipedia you'll see the source of the image on the second cover.
Yeah, it just has a lot of character... But hey, these are 2 different books. The type treatment and big ol yellow border blow on that second cover, but the image is striking and very evocative in it's own right...
In both cases the typefaces are horrible, but at least the latter cover is more descriptive. The giant black area on the former one looks more like a shadow than blackface.
Joseph,
Hi. It actually is a male mouth.
David Drummond
Thanks, David!
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