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Thursday, May 08, 2008

New Ian Fleming Hardcovers

Illustrations by Michael Gillette

Wow. Just one of the 14 new Ian Fleming hardcovers from Penguin. And as usual, Penguin Senior Copywriter Colin Brush does a great job with the backstory. Check all of them out at the Penguin Blog. Fun use of the logo!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

the incredible hulk just got lucky...

These are so perfectly cheesy covers. Nice, almost naive illos and lovely hand-done 60's typography. The colors are fantastic.

Of coarse if this was not a series I would feel completely different about these as single editions...

Tal said...

It's interesting to compare these hardcovers to the recent Penguin James Bond paperback series. Roseanne Serra and Richie Fahey designed them:

http://www.richiefahey.com/design.htm

A.S. King said...

Wow. I just checked out the paintings on the Penguin site and they are AMAZING. Perfectly Bond.

Anonymous said...

Tal, thanks a bunch for that link. It's fascinating to see the marked difference between the two series approaches.

Much as the U.S. Penguin pulp versions of Bond are lovely -- and they are quite fetching, really -- somehow I just feel like the Brits kicked our ass again.

The UK version nods at the past while keeping it very contemporary and minimalist. The US neo-pulp editions feel slightly clumsy by comparison.

(Just my opinion.)

Or, rather, the UK editions FEEL like a vodka martini -- clean, clear, sophisticated. The US editions, more like the Champaigne of beer.

Plus, the UK wins for clever branding usage.

The US wins for cleavage usage.

Anonymous said...

good interview with Michael on the MI6 website:

http://www.mi6.co.uk/sections/articles/interview_michael_gillette.php3?t=&s=