I just discovered a really fascinating blog, which led me to an equally fascinating website. The blog itself is called Beyond the Covers, and features the book cover design work of Ian Shimkoviak. He shows not just the final covers he designs, but some of the alternate versions and the works in progress.
It’s not simply that Mr. Shimkoviak’s work is good (which it is), but I love seeing all the different ideas he has for one cover, and I love all the comments and explanations that go with them. For example, scroll down almost to the bottom of the front page, to find the final version of the cover for Arrays of Consciousness, then look at all the previous cover options for the same book on this page and this page.
Shimkoviak also links to the website of The Book Designers, a team of designers with whom he works. That’s just as interesting, as you look through all the covers featured under the various categories. My favourites are the ones they do for Mandala Publishing, because I’m mad for Hindu gods and goddesses, but all the work is beautiful. (I’m especially amused by the second Size Matters cover in the “Fiction/Non-fiction” category. Go have a look.)
This is a whole level of book creation that we don’t always pay proper attention to. Yet I know that the sole reason I ever picked up The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay was that I was emotionally captivated by the cover. I didn’t even care what the book was about; I just wanted that cover.
Cover art is a creative craft all in itself, both separate from and intimately tied to the contents of the book itself. I think we need to pay much more attention to it than we do.
I agree that I’m often drawn in by cover art. I’ll check it out.
Very cool…thanks for that.
Cover art is one of the topics I will be talking about in my major research paper…so this is great.
I love stumbling on stuff like this at Twitter. And then following such links, and really learning something.