Graphic Journey Blog

David Gentleman: Stamp of Approval

Royal Mail has issued a set of 6 stamps featuring original designs from their archive by David Gentlemen RDI. They are in celebration his outstanding contribution to the development of modern British stamp design from the 1960s to the present. In 2010 I recorded a candid interview with him about his life and work. (See link at foot) Here are four of the six.

To hear the interview click HERE

 

 

 

 

LOVED COVERS No.67

All those in creative areas start by being inspired by others in their particular discipline, and their early work often replicates those they admire. The essence of AI is doing precisely that, minus the emotional dimension. It absorbs entire histories of existing work, and when given the necessary 'prompt,' it will produce something along the lines of whoever the prompter has suggested. The AI will then, in seconds, spew out as many variations of the prompt fed as you want.

Long before AI and the digital world, this kind of thing has been happening for decades in the book cover landscape. As a 19-year-old desperate to design an actual book cover, I visited bookshops to check out the new arrivals, zoom in on bad ones, read the essence of the story, and later, at home at the kitchen table would create my reimaginings of those covers I disliked, all hand made back in those analogue days of the 1960s. The results of my efforts were added to a little A4 folder with others, hoping to show them to anyone in publishing who would afford me their time.

Today, young and not-so-young graduates show their reimagined covers on Instagram for all to see and hopefully to garner a commission. Hundreds of established cover designers post all their published covers online, often including outtakes. There are also an increasing number of online directories like I Need a Book Cover with portfolios of cover designers around the globe. And there are oddballs like me who share their interest in the discipline. With all this work displayed 24/7, it's no wonder there is a plethora of inspiration, imitation, and downright copying on an industrial scale that has nothing to do with AI but flesh-and-blood designers behaving like the thing they fear. The two covers shown took my attention to the above topic. The notable US designer Peter Mendelsund published his unused 2008 cover design (on the left) when the book's title changed to 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo'. (On the right) In 2017, this cover appeared in the UK as published by Vintage. Coincidence or inspiration? This similarity is one example of thousands of covers these days that closely follow others to become a 'trend.' The downside of this open-source sharing is that every cover designer has to have a variety of trends in their armour. Consequently, the once-recognised 'individuality' of a designer has virtually disappeared.

Mike Dempsey: Cover Meeting

This week’s episode is with Mike Dempsey - he’s been a practising graphic designer since 1964. From the late sixties, he worked as an Art Director for two leading British publishing houses. In 1979, he founded the design consultancy Carroll & Dempsey, which later became CDT Design Ltd. His work has earned him many awards, and in 2012, he was presented with a unique Black Pencil for the most-awarded designer in D&AD’s 50-year history. To listen, click HERE

 

Coveting covers 33

These disembodied elements set against an otherworldly backdrop are a perfect image for this novel about Benjamin Vaughn, a young illusionist who dies under mysterious circumstances at the height of his short career. New York-based Joan Wong designed it. She spans both the world of book cover design and editorial illustration commissions. Published by Nouvella in 2019

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A novel that takes aim at contemporary mating practices, middle-class values, and marriage for love as the glue of society, but not in the digital world, but using the traditional mode of placing a personal ad in a newspaper. The piercing arrow is an excellent metaphor. Published by Esplanade Book in 2010. Designer (?)

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How to graphically express a book on the history of masculinity in Canada? If you are the talented designer David Drummond, you do it with wit and symbolism, as here for UBC Press in 2007.

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This cover clearly didn't run the sales bod's gauntlet. It explores 'unknown time' as a cultural phenomenon, approaching past futures, unknown presents, and future pasts. Alas, I don't know who designed it, but it's a delightful solution. Palgrave Macmillan 2017.

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'The Life and Death of Sophie Stark' is about the troubled indie filmmaker told from the perspective of those who knew her. Using a cinematic close-up is a perfect metaphor to express this story. Spencer Kimble designed the cover for Blue Rider Press in 2015.

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When is a typographical cover, not just a typographical cover? When it becomes a concept, as here, displayed on open pages of three books. Designed by Chin Yee-Lai in 2012 and published by W. W. Norton & Company.

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This cover has a perfect two-colour utilitarian feel with a well-chosen image of the always sinister-looking Richard Nixon, greatly heightened by the red overprint. And a neat nod to all the official papers destroyed during the Watergate cover-up. Cover designed by New York City-based Tyler Comrie for Scribe Publications in 2021.

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Dante's 13th-century poem muses on the state of the soul after death. Designer Peter Mendelsund's 2014 idea was to express it simply using colour. Brilliant.