When a critic said of Nicole C. Vosseler's, “Unter dem Safranmond” (Under the Saffron Moon) that it was an "entertaining love story that especially appeals to female readers moving them to tears," the marketing bells went off at the German publisher Lubbe.The publisher hired the Munich marketing firm ServicePlan who created a tissue box that mirrors the hardback. Same cloth, same visuals. The publisher produced 5,000 tissue books to offer with the novel. And, if you need more, the tissues are pre-printed with quotes from the book!The concept has earned two major design awards including the bronze lion at the...
Up the Book Staircase
or as Debbie at HarperStudio aptly puts it. A "Stairway to Heaven"Image via
Book Art Meets Book Design : Cara Barer Hits the Covers
In his post at Galleycat, "Cover Trends: The Book as Art Object" Ron Hogan points to two recently published books featuring the book photographs of Cara Barer on the dust jacket.On the same day as Hogan's post the New York Observer ran a piece entitled "The New Thing: Books Without Jackets " which looks at some new releases that are forgoing the dust jacket and using the boards as the canvas. "At a time when there are other forms that people can buy books in, it becomes more important than ever for the physical book to look really attractive," says...
Booktopia: Paju Bookcity aims to ‘Recover the Lost Humanity’
Is it a dream? Is it real? Have we found Heaven on Earth?It's called Bookcity and it's located 30km outside of Seoul, South Korea. It is a city built upon a foundation of books. It's planning and construction guided by "the principles of book making that we use everyday. Book making is similar to architecture in that it takes pains to design and if the design is not satisfactory, one begins again from scratch"It's goal is to concentrate the publishing industry in an "eco-friendly industrial city"Here are a few nuggets from their website:-From the beginning, the Bookcity project was planned...
On Spines and Memories
"Scan your bookshelves. Consider the spines. Connect one to a specific memory. It's easy."This is how, noted designer and creative director of Marquand Books, Ed Marquand kicks off his short essay On Spines and Memories, the first volume in a new series by Marquand Editions.On how important a spine's design is to the whole of the book Marquand says "The spine becomes the most familiar part of a book after it is slid into a bookcase, but it is often designed in haste"The series will feature essays from writers, publishers, curators and the like and will focus on the various...