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In a recent post about Matthew Dunn's book, Spycatcher, commenter Jack states that he feels that the cover art is kind of "cheesy." Thriller Guy had not given this much thought, he generally doesn't pay much attention to the covers of the books he reviews, but on thinking about it, a small bell began to jingle in the back of his mind. So he looked at the ever-growing mound of books that sit near his desk and just mining the top layer of the most recent books turned up the following. Is it just TG, or do these covers not illustrate a paucity of imagination on the part of the editors and art departments in the world of publishing? In all but one the color scheme is the orange at the top with darker colors at the bottom, except in the case of the Grippando where it is reversed. TG bets that a trip to the bookstore would turn up even more examples. And yes, it is true, book cover styles tend to go in cycles with styles going in and out of fashion, but really...
Perhaps TG can summon his pal Bhob Stewart, who knows about these things. Bhob has an excellent Blog about the history of comics, Potrzebie that is well worth a gander for those who are interested in that sort of thing. Bhob, oh Bhob, are you out there?
But first...
Here's the Dunn...
And here are some others
Looks like a case of playing it safe by doing what worked before. But is that an art director decision or something the art director is told to do? Here's a double interview I did with Stephen King commenting on his cover art and Signet art director Jim Plumeri giving some insider info.
ReplyDeleteAll they need is Favio with a gun and they are ALL set....
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