Monday, February 16, 2009

Stone's Fall

Design by Peter Mendelsund

I wouldn't normally get excited about a cover like this -- we've all seen the stock certificate motif before -- but the random orientation really helps this along, and the bloody splatter is fun and clearly marks this as mystery fiction.

PS: The "JS" on the stock certificate presumably refers to John Stone, the protagonist.

6 comments:

  1. that is very interesting. To have come to the decision to boldly tilt it in that direction is very adventurous, because yes, this could have been a very ordinary looking piece. The typography is very elegant. The only bit of cheese I feel here is the little, tiny body in the blood splatter that looks more like something you would violently blow out of your bloody nose after a fight.

    I wonder what the "JS" on the certificate stands for. Is that standard issue on stock certificates? Or is it adding a level of meaning from the story?

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  2. Anonymous6:55 PM

    I love everything about this except the body in the blood. I don't really get how it fit's with the otherwise elegant design - the blood is enough to translate the idea. I also think the cover would look much more sinister and mysterious if the blood was spattered in more than one place.

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  3. Anonymous9:10 PM

    I feel as if this is taken from a birds-eye view, as if the man has fallen a great height, then splattered onto the page below. Very cool.

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  4. Anonymous2:15 AM

    @Anonymous: That makes sense, because it explains the really really tiny blood splatters (they'd be from a great distance). Otherwise, that really doesn't look much like blood...more like the Graffiti tool in MS Paint.

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  5. Anonymous8:14 AM

    I love this. It's beautiful. Enough said.

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