About a year ago I worked on a title for CQ Press, a politics publisher in Washington, DC that publishes academic and reference books. The title I did for them, Controversies in Globalization, is a textbook (not my normal fare). It features 15 pairs of scholars and practitioners that directly address current questions in International Relations through brief "yes" and "no" pieces.
I knew that a contrast needed to be shown on the cover as this is a debate style book. The market is very different for textbooks. Mostly professors choose the books for their courses and are very familiar with competitive titles....a reason to produce a cover that is unique.
My first thought, of course, was a globe. As cliche as it seems, it did appear to be a necessary part of the book's content. So how to show it in a way that isn't completely obvious? These are my solutions...I showed 3 comps and the last one was chosen:
A red dividing line between the pieced globe suggests the contrast:
The final, which evokes a globe by the lines inside the circle, but also uses the speaking bubble. Black and white is the ultimate contrast:
2 comments:
splendid evolution.
I don't know if you now this or if it matters much to you, but you (well, shelved) were featured this last month on our company newsletter which goes out to like 2000+ people.
Your work is remarkable in it's ability to look good across many generes. This is hard to do. I am sure you have a book or two that you do a year that looks like crap—maybe more—but it is nice to see this type of evolution. And i have to say, the end result is always the most special and well thought out.
Clever and simple final design. I love it.
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