Penguin 75: Designers, Authors, Commentary (the Good, the Bad . . .) [Mass Market Paperback]

Paul Buckley (Editor, Introduction), Chris Ware (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 6, 2010

A unique exploration into the subtle art of the book cover

High standards in art and design have always been part of Penguin's publishing program. Now, on the occasion of Penguin's 75th anniversary, longtime art director Paul Buckley has chosen seventy-five covers that represent the best of what Penguin has produced over the course of the last decade. Giving readers a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the complex creation of a book's cover, Penguin 75 includes comments from authors, agents, and editors, as well as the designers and artists themselves. This witty and irreverent journey into the book world will appeal to lovers of art, design, and, of course, books.

With Contributions By:
Paul Auster * Tara McPherson * Daniel Clowes * David Byrne * Elizabeth Gilbert * Joe Sacco * Tana French * T.C. Boyle * Seth * Tom Gauld * William T. Vollmann * Art Spiegelman * Kim Edwards * Melissa Bank * Ruben Toledo * Tomer Hanuka * Jamie Keenan * Roz Chast * Garrison Keillor * Yoshihiro Tatsumi * Sam Weber * Paul Sahre * Tony Millionaire * Nicholas Blechman * Jon Gray and many others!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Making the Book Covers
(Click on Images to Enlarge)

"I hired Julie for this particular title because...well, I'd rather not describe in print the things I've seen her draw...Google image 'Julie Doucet' (turn SafeSearch to off) and you'll see what I really mean--Julie gets REALLY DARK, and I thought she'd turn this book on its head. At the end of the day, though, the book is what it is, and the most we could do was the make light mention of boys. I insisted on pimples, though...lots and lots of pimples." --Paul Buckley, Art Director Read more about the Little Women cover...

"I came up with the selected cover in just a few minutes of thinking about it. It was my first idea. I sketched it out and really liked it. There was both sadness and wit, which I thought nailed the sentiment of the book. However, I dismissed it almost as quickly as I rendered it because I didn't believe it could come that easily. I set it aside and spent the better part of a week trying to come up with something I thought was stronger. Eventually, I came up with some alts that I liked, but none as much as this one." --Neil Powell, Designer | Illustrator Read more about the Junky cover...

"From the outset this seemed like a sensitive and tricky subject. How do you grab attention without offending anyone? The title is great and also needed to be fairly prominent. Best solution seemed to be something typographic. So with the help of a free Internet translator, I got to work. I thought of the most offensive phrase I could, then plastered it across the cover in Arabic! Genius, right?" --John Gray, Designer Read more about the How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? cover...

About the Author

Chris Ware, an award-winning illustrator and cartoonist, has drawn for many publications, including The New York Times Magazine and The Chicago Reader. Ware’s most well-known work includes Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth and the Acme Novelty Library series.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (July 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143117629
• ISBN-13: 978-0143117629
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #471,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Antiques & Collectibles > Books

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost all good, no bad, very little ugly, August 24, 2010

By 

C. Ebeling "ctlpareader" (PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Penguin 75: Designers, Authors, Commentary (the Good, the Bad . . .) (Mass Market Paperback)

Book covers matter to me. I am a general reader with an appreciation for design. A good cover, as far as I am concerned, has aesthetic intelligence in its own right but must also serve as a pointer to the heart of the content; it should have a respectful, if not amorous dialogue with the content or the author. I happen to think that we are living in something of a golden era of book cover design and the art department at Penguin has contributed to making it so. In celebration of Penguin's benchmark year, Penguin 75 is a neat, affordable art book that presents covers from the last several years, the art director and designer's commentary, and, occasionally, the author's take. For the consumer like me, it is a fascinating look at how covers end up the way they do; for the graphics student, it should be highly instructive.

The collection was edited by Paul Buckley, art director, who also worked as a designer and supervisor on most of the projects. They reflect his aesthetic, which is broad and comes down on the edgy side. He is very happy with the series of classics covers created by comics artists. For me, the designs created by tattoo artists were more successful in terms of giving the temperature of the book within. One of the reasons why this collection and Penguin covers in general succeed is Buckley's willingness to try nontraditional designers. David Byrne, author of The Bicycle Diaries, contributed his own drawing to his cover. Another artist won a contest run through Creativity Magazine. My favorite story is that of who produced the Twitterature cover. Apparently, young interns at Penguin get to do more than run the copy machine.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Penquin at 75 hits the mark!, July 19, 2010

By 

James O.S.CT - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Penguin 75: Designers, Authors, Commentary (the Good, the Bad . . .) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you love book design, this anniversary edition of PENGUIN 75, really hits the mark. Over the years Penquin paperbacks have been designed and branded to dominate the shelves of every book store I've had the pleasure of browsing. Within this volume you'll discover a collection of exciting new design solutions to some timeless classic titles. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Jane Austen would have been proud!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous covers on parade, February 18, 2011

By 

Jessica Weissman "poet and computer programmer" (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Penguin 75: Designers, Authors, Commentary (the Good, the Bad . . .) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you love books or just their covers, this is a gorgeous treat. 75 outstanding Penguin covers are displayed, each with some background information and a short discussion by one of its creators. In many cases alternate versions are also shown and you can decide whether the right one was chosen.

It's a visual feast for anyone and, if you're not aware of cover design issues, a brief education too. I still care more about the contents than the cover, but I now know much, much more about how covers are designed.