The Secret Pulse of Time
Design by Josh Durham
Sent in by our friend Philippe (whom we met back in August), who wrote "You need to see this cover..." I'll go a step farther: if you teach, you need to show this to your students when you discuss the basics of graphic design. Repetition, balance, contrast, etc...they're all here. The type is somewhat shoe-horned in -- I'll grant you that -- but this is a great number of classes rolled into one book jacket.
UPDATE: A reader points out the similarity to this cover:
14 comments:
Seems like a ripoff of the cover for Daniel Alarcon's War by Candlelight to me...
http://www.amazon.com/War-Candlelight-Stories-Daniel-Alarcon/dp/0060594802
beauGeste said,
Matches have been done to death and the type is second rate. Why do we switch to Large and Small caps for author name. I agree Joseph, the type is shoe-horned in.
beauGeste said,
Matches have been done to death and the type is second rate. Why do we switch to Large and Small caps for author name. I agree Joseph, the type is shoe-horned in.
Mog said, before I blew away his/her comment. Friggin' comment moderation :-(
I don't like the type treatment, but I do love the cover. The progressively blackened matches perfectly illustate the passing of time - the cover looks serious, even ominous. (Yes, the "burnt matches laid horizontally" aspect is pretty similar to War by Candlelight, but the progression on Pulse makes it a more successful cover, IMO.)
Oh, and I have a question. What's with the little "P.S." in a circle that's popping up in the corner of so many book covers? (I think it's on the spine, as well.) I assume the publisher is pushing some sort of "value added" extra content website or something?
P.S. is a marketing thing that HarperPerennial is doing in all the new trade paperbacks. In the back of each book is additional content like author interviews and the like. It's only for HarperCollins books, though.
The concept is alright. The type is not treated well at all.
That PS thing is super awkward and rather distracting. Of course, callout/starburst/medallion type things are generally difficult to fit in well, but surely there's a better way of doing it than what's there now? Something more intentional looking-- maybe a full circle, rather than a blob printing off the corner edge half-apologetically...
Where did this version of The Secret Pulse of Time come from? I mean publisher? Can't find it anywhere online. Is it real?
I forgot to mention that it's an Australian cover. Sorry.
give me another book cover or give me death...
The layout of matches on the first cover, especially the untouched tip, is superior. But everything else about the second is superior. The typography rots on Pulse. It's cramped, contrasts in too many ways, and the all-white background is plain boring. The second cover isn’t great, but it's a lot better than the first.
The book has been published by an australian independent publisher, Scribe, headed by Henry Rosenbloom.
http://www.scribepublications.com.au/
An excellent publisher. Another nice cover by Scribe that you might want to have a look at :
http://www.scribepublications.com.au/files/book/cover_image/80/Power.jpg
IMO, the first cover is far better than the second one. It has a true meaning (time passing / matches burned), and you have the feeling that matches have just been burned and dropped on the page, which is great.
It is sad when an original idea is redone...it diminishes the value of both designs.
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