22 September 2010

Justin Wood

I can't believe I'm lucky enough to be related to this guy.

Beautiful Modern Book Covers


CB Design




























Sigh. I love GW's work.





Grand Central Publishing




 

GT



Little, Brown and Co.

Exacting grammar IS glamorous and elusive, especially to a 
California public school rat like me (and yes, this is a warning of sorts to you).


 

Penguin  Books


 



The mark of an excellent designer? 
When the writing might be crap, 
but the designer stays inspired and manages to create something so good. 
One of the most beautiful modern book covers ever- below.


Granted, Mr. Corral had an incredible image to work with.
I've seen this painting by Jacob Magraw-Mickelson in person and it is beautiful,
however it could still have been just okay in print depending 
on the whim of a designer. The cropping, paper choice, gold stamping, dye-cut, 
title, and famous author name placement were applied with a finesse and skill that is so 
incredibly rare and breath taking to see when done well. Pulling out all those stop's 
could have easily turned this cover into a garish sucker punch at the consumer 
but RCD used his bag of tricks with an archers precision and it worked.

13 September 2010

Art of McSweeney's is out and available through Chronicle Books

I have some sketch work as well as several finished pieces in this. If your interested in seeing how things are done at McSweeney's, or have a general interest in how a small press publishing company works, I highly recommend this book. It's an excellent read for students, dabblers and the pros. 

It's also just plain ole pretty to look at.



Art of McSweeney's
A novel with each cover hand-illustrated by the author. Literary journals bound by magnets, or designed to look like junk mail. The sharp wit, gorgeous design, and playful why not invention of independent literary publisher McSweeney's have earned it a large and loyal following and made its journals, books, The Believer magazine, and Wholphin DVDs collectible favorites of readers and graphic designers alike. Created by the McSweeney's staff to commemorate their 11th (or 12th) anniversary, this book showcases their award-winning art and design across all the company's activities. It features hundreds of images, interviews with collaborators such as Chris Ware and Michael Chabon, and dozens of insights into McSweeney's quirky creative process and the visual experience of reading.
McSweeney's began in 1998 as a San Francisco-based literary journal edited by Dave Eggers, and has since grown into a celebrated independent publishing company. Its publications have won awards from AIGA and Print and have appeared in exhibits at the Smithsonian and the Pasadena Museum.

Watch a video preview of the book and purchase HERE

photo source: designrelated

12 September 2010

Vrs. : MockingJay Cover


One of these images is the cover to a novel, the other was created for a NYTimes review of the novel.
I have always been partial to illustrator Tomer Hanuka's work (and YA novel's). 

Edit: Yet another image from an MJ review: