When the title of your book is, “How To Be Black,” there are only a few ways to go with cover design. HarperCollins Publishers decided on a deceptively simple white lettering on a black background designed by Lisa Stokes for Baratunde Thurston’s part autobiography/part social commentary. Just carrying this book around makes you seem like a radical.

The style of the cover is that of Paul Bacon’s Big Book Look. Bacon, a book cover design icon, made the “big title, big author look” popular. “How To Be Black,” the book cover comes off edgy and “in-yo-face!” Truthfully, the book is milder than what the cover leads you to believe. It is milk-through-your-nose funny and, if I can borrow Arsenio Hall’s bit for a minute, it makes you go “hmmmmm”.

A golden nugget in the design is on the back cover at the top where it says, “If You Don’t Buy This Book, You’re a Racist.” Perfection!

A+// Color evokes emotion, especially when “color” means “race”. Fantastic interpretation of the title.

B// The title stands out well, but the addition of the NYT Bestseller tag muddies it up a little. Of course, when you have a bestseller on your hands, you work it in.

A+// If I saw this on a shelf in a bookstore, would the spine grab my attention? You bet! Excellent design!