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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Medium is the Massage

Designer credit to come

Brilliant, because it's not just a thumb on a bookcover. It's a thumb -- and a hand -- that's holding a book. It's your hand -- and therefore, you -- interacting with media, which is, after all, what McLuhan is talking about.

9 comments:

Angela Wang said...

Also awesome is the typo that McLuhan (legend has it) purposely kept, because it too was the "message."

Anonymous said...

Wow, I did not even catch the message/massage thing until I read the previous comment...

Love the thumb design. It's a meta-cover!

Anonymous said...

There have been other versions of this book with the same concept, (or is it a spread within the book that I'm thinking of?) ....But the "massage" really comes across here. The thumb seems to be kneading the surface of the book. Just great.

Ian Koviak said...

hmmm. a little subtle for my taste.

Anonymous said...

awesome post!

Anonymous said...

ian: It's not if you actually see someone holding the book (the design is mirrored onto the back). And it fits the book's content.

"Penguin by Design" designates an entire spread to that book. It's even lovelier on the inside.

Joseph said...

Mog: I'll have to check that out. Thanks!

jw said...

Scrolling down the page, I thought at first glance that that thumb was a penis. After careful consideration, however, I've found that there's nothing offensive here, nothing so indecent as a penis with a thumbnail.

It's fine.

Anonymous said...

I was glad I took a second look at this post.

It makes me wonder if the designer is a bit of a Canadian art history buff. There is a subtle bent of the tongue and cheek of artist Micheal Snow's "Thumb" photos in this design. He was also a close contemporary of Marshall McLuhan when this comment hit pop culture.