PDA awards

I was lucky enough to get several pieces in the first ever AIGA Philadelphia Design Awards this year. Sean Adams (Adams/ Morioka), Alice Chung (Omnivore), Rick Landesberg (Landesberg Design), Scott Stowell (Open) and Alice Twemlow were judges. Go vote for your favorite now:

http://www.aigapda2008.com


Thanks to Jonathan Sainsbury from Pantheon, Eleen Cheung from W.W. Norton, Counterpoint and JHUP for sending great projects my way!

Gender and Crime

A serious subject matter for NYU Press. Just one alternate to show here...I thought the first one really brought "gender" into the cover concept, but instead they opted for a more straightforward approach.


Not sure the idea of a woman's figure translates to the final cover as an immediate association.

Classical Music

Here's an oldie, but goodie for Penguin. I of course tried a couple directions showing tons of instruments (that was fun sourcing), but I was quite happy that the final featured just the conductor's hands. Simple, but effective. I also used those "hot" colors I like. Georgia first mentioned that term and I realize I use these colors a lot...if only they would get approved more often.




Look at that spine...doesn't every book cover designer love a spine they can really work with? Ah, ornaments.

Human Oddities

Digging in the archives just now, I came across this title from Shoemaker & Hoard (now merged into Counterpoint). This book was ripe with imagery. From Amazon: These nine stories hinge on the damaged contemporary body;battered, conjoined, disfigured by plastic surgery, abandoned, intoxicated, in drag or rendered uninhabitable by obesity, desire or deformity. With freak-show imagery tempered by sympathy, Jablonski conjures outcast protagonists...

Sure, showing disfigured bodies is one thing, but how to do so in a way that is intriguing to a book buyer...and not too off-putting? Well, my first thought was dolls, because they can take on a pretty creepy feel with the right lighting. I also researched famous twins such as Chang and Eng Bunker and the Hilton Twins via the author's notes.

Here is the suggestion of cojoined twins using dolls:


Historical photos (the ornamentation on the first one is supposed to be bizarre and circus-like):



A close up of the body:


And the final using a doll. The close up of the face is disconcerting, the cut arm, and the type is slightly off: