Cover

by Peter Mendelsund

Peter Mendelsund has enjoyed years as a much-sought-after book cover designer and art director. Among the many recognizable jackets he has created are those for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; collections of the works of Joyce, Kafka, Dostoevsky, de Beauvoir, and Foucault; the contemporary works of Martin Amis, Tom McCarthy, Ben Marcus, Jo Nesbø, and James Gleick; and many more. All have greatly benefitted from the care and touch Mendelsund gave them.

Cover abounds with Mendelsund's completed book jackets along with ephemera from his previously unseen creative method, including jacket sketches, interior art and editorial illustrations, and scores of rejected drafts. These images are punctuated by Mendelsund's reflections on his work and his process, as well as by texts from writers with whom he has worked and designed for.

Cover is a compendium of beautiful design and a beautiful design object itself; a profile and celebration of one of the publishing world's most talented and prolific contemporary creators, and a brilliant showcase of his deft touch for balanced and innovative design.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Art, Books About Books, Writing, Essays, Reference

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2014

About the author

Peter Mendelsund is the associate art director of Alfred A. Knopf and a recovering classical pianist. His designs have been described by The Wall Street Journal as being “the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in contemporary fiction.” He lives in New York.

Reviews

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Mendelsund couldn't have known he was writing Cover just for me; but he was. (Peter, if you're reading this--thank you!)

As a musician who loves books and dreams of designing book covers, this book is like a dream come true. I love every inch of it. Rarely do I find someone else who is a lot like me, but the way Mendelsund views books and reading is almost exactly the way I do. I feel like tearing out his "What Is a Book Cover?" text from pages 110-111 and putting it up on my wall. (Since this is a library book, I won't do that.)

Cover makes me want to design book covers (I think I'd be really good at it), and it makes me want to read books Mendelsund designed the covers for (I'm especially eager for the Kafka series and the Black Jack series, which look so beautiful). It also makes me want to meet Mendelsund and hang out with him.

I don't know what's in my future, but it's encouraging to read about someone else who made the kind of career switch that I dream of. Maybe, someday . . .

[Eliash Strongowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Я не знаю як ще це сформулювати, тому спробую так.
Це друга найкраща книга із книжкового дизайну в моїй бібліотеці (перша - Chip Kidd: Book One) і перша книга, яку слід брати до рук всім охочим займатися книжковим дизайном. Все, що вам дадуть наступні книги - розуміння типографії й композиції, кольору та стилістик, є, безумовно, вкрай важливим і якісним дизайнером без цього не стати. Але це – лише вміння користуватися інструментами для втілення задуму, книга Мендельсунда же - це трепанація процесу пошуку і вичленовування ідеї, холодна, методична, ретельна, я би сказав, хірургічна. Масу речей, які я ніяк не міг собі сформулювати, Пітер зводить до короткого переліку, або навіть афоризмів:

Чим є книжкова обкладинка?

1. Шкірою;
2. Рамою;
3. Нагадуванням;
4. Сувеніром, талісманом, токеном;
5. Інформаційною стійкою;
6. Прикрасою;
7. Характеристикою нас;
8. Тізером, трейлером;
9. Трофеєм;
10. Оголошенням, білбордом, рекламою;
11. Перекладом.

Чи необхідна книжкова обкладинка?
Ні.

Кожен з цих пунктів, малозрозумілий сам по собі, автор, зрозуміло (як нас, чи то пак мене може характеризувати книжкова обкладинка?), розлого розкриває - і робить це без дидактики і з легким гумором.

Гумором, чи, радше, інтелектуальною іронією, пронизана вся книга. Вступна глава повідомляє нам про життєвий і творчий шлях Пітера Мендельсунда, який до 30 з гаком років був успішним піаністом і збочив у бік не найочевиднішої професії світу. Перша його співбесіда в новій якості була із Чіпом Кіддом - і про цю зустріч оповідає сам Кідд. Про те, як йому довелося зустрітися з аматором без жодної освіти й розуміння елементарних професійних термінів і чому ця зустріч стала знаковою.
Звісно, не кожному з нас наприпочатку трудового шляху вдасться зустрітися з найвідомішим книжковим дизайнером світу і по результатах здобути посаду молодшого дизайнера - це, радше, виграш у лотерею - але є сенс працювати над портфоліо такого рівня, яке коли-небудь могло бути йому показане. Ну, або уже самому Мендельсунду, чому ні?

Що ще є на трьохстах форматних повноколірних сторінках? Враження письменників, яких оформлював Мендельсунд (Несбе, Том Фулф, etc). Міркування автора про феномен читання (підозрюю, саме так почалася його наступна книга, What We See When We Read. Поради як шукати натхнення, фільтрувати невдале і просувати улюблені варіянти крізь сито маркетинґу і арт-директорів.

Ну і обкладинки. Дуже багато обкладинок. Тьма офіґенних книжкових обкладинок за 11 років роботи автора книжковим дизайнером і асоційованим арт-директором Alfred A. Knopf. Шедевральні серії Кафки й Достоєвського, рідкісні удачі з Беном Маркусом та Стіґом Ларсоном. Весь опис тривалого процесу роботи над "Грою в класики" Хуліо Кортасара. Окрема главка з міркуваннями як оформлювати "Лоліту" Набокова. Абстраґоване мислення, залучене для потреб оформлення книжок. Квінтесенція всього вартого, до чого кожен з нашого цеху має рухатися. Форматування оптики, вигострення ока, низка прийомів, все розписане і подане, користуйтеся.
Гаряче, гаряче раджу.

P.S. Під час читання і розгляду дуже дається взнаки те, що Мендельсунд працює з найкращими книжковими дизайнерами сучасности в одному з найбільших видавництв світу. Це трохи дратує українського книжкового дизайнера, українські клієнти якого, навіть якщо і раді вітати політ його фантазії, не мають технічної та фінансової змоги втілювати смачні забаганки дизайнера - уже перша оформлена Мендельсундом книга мала кастомну вирубку, я таким досі не можу похвалитися. Ну і, зрозуміло що, суперобкладинки з прозорого пластику і пергаменту з пантонним друком, шовкотрафаретні палітуровані книги, фольґа в усіх можливих варіяціях (аж до 5 видів фольґування на одній обкладинці!!!), бокс-сети (одиницям, власне, в Україні вдалося оформити бокс-сет бо означених сетів теж одиниці), суперобкладинка з хаотично розташованими проколами (для чого в Китаї сконструювали спеціяльну машинку для цього) і, навіть, обкладинка зі вставним рухомим елементом (штибу колеса), від крутости як задуму, так і втілення у мене ворушилося волосся на тілі – все це Пітер вже робив. А я ні. І це я не згадую про створення кастомних діорам і фотобоксів. Пересічний західний книжковий дизайнер може і не має доступ до всіх цих технологій одразу й негайно, але, принаймні, у нього є на це притямні шанси. В Україні політ фантазії обмежується фінансами і реаліями, коли навіть спроба застосувати два лаки (уф та флок) на оправі замість одного при бажанні клієнта це втілити, наразилася на неспромогу друкарів. В Україні тобі не пропонують доступ до оплаченого пакету Адобі, бібліотеки куплених шрифтів і лоґін з паролем до корпоративного екаунту на Шатерстоці і це змушує бути економнішим, скромнішим і.... вигадливішим. Якщо ми, затиснені всіма нашими лещатами, спроможемося на продукт західного рівня, шанс коли-небудь розправити крила у технічному плані проявить те, на що ми справді спроможні.
І тоді я менше хотітиму працювати на Penguin i Knopf, а вони хотітимуть цього більше :)

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Mendelsund's beautiful book cover designs.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved learning about my favorite book designer's creative process. (Yes, I just admitted to having a favorite book designer...)

[Gretchen Hohmeyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have literally never been madder in my life that I can't get a hold of Mendelsund's next book about book covers until October of this year while I am WORKING on a THESIS about BOOK COVERS. This was an amazing resource and I'm glad I lucked into it.

[Zhou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dead authors get the best book jackets. 笑死

[Zoe Hannay]

mendelsund has bars

[Peter Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that gives really great insight into the work of a great cover designer. I especially liked the fact that rejected covers were included which helps to show how particular cover designs evolved. Highly recommended to anyone wanting to embark on a professional book design career.

[Joseph Raffetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Mendelsund, with little design experience, was hired by Knopf is one of the most amazing stories I've ever read. Cover is more than a book about design; it's a meditation on the creative process and the love of books by a genius designer. A must for book lovers!

[Brent Woo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My celebrity book designer crush. Chock full of insight and uncannily written vignettes about Der Prozess of book cover design. It's nearly impossible to put into words what one's aesthetic taste or design sensibilities boil down to, but Mendelsund manages to do so, by presenting the successes alongside the many, many, many failures, and narrating the journey to the finished product. There is a surprising amount of text in this massive coffee table-style book; a mix of transcribed interviews and articles written by Mendelsund himself, editors and authors he's collaborated with, and others.

What strikes me is Mendelsund's life story. He's a classically-trained pianist, and by accident of fate happened on the job of a lifetime, book designing, by being in the right place at the right time. Despite all of that, he's somehow a brilliant designer and writer, and despite looking like a simple gawkbook to browse through, his writing actively challenges you:

Every choice, each step, a step closer to the concretization of the book and thus its impoverishment. It is my job to drag the text , the author’s work, perfect in its disembodiment, into awful specificity.

If design itself is predicated on youth then late style isn’t feasible. If design is not predicated on youth; perhaps it demands timeliness. Familiarity with the zeitgeist is integral to design. Conversely, repudiation of the zeitgeist is integral to late style.

Goddammit, that's so GOOD. All this insight taken together with innovative cover after cover turns this from a mere showcase of book covers into a biography of an inspiration—an endlessly creative individual who encourages and surprises at every turn:

Be a citizen of the world, and at least attempt to know a little something about life outside of your own InDesign files. .. Engage in something that matters to you more than your latest project. Some perspective and a modicum of circumspection will improve your mood, expand your horizons, and improve your design work.

[Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under Cover

I was driven to pick up this book after reading Mendelsund's What We See When We Read which I wanted to like, but didn't. As a frequent haunter of book stores both new and used I’ve found that well designed covers will draw the eye. Mendelsund is a dust jacket designer for Alfred E. Knopf, and has done brilliant and distinctive work on series such as Steig Larson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe, a biography of Benoit Mandelbrot, The The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus and republished works by Foucault and Hannah Arendt's collection of essays by Walter Benjamin with it's emblematic representation of Benjamin's titles as Paris streets.

Most of the content consists of book covers that Mendelsund created, including a series of rejected covers –for example the original for Gleicks “The Information” was far better than the one that was finally accepted. Inside are some modestly interesting short essays – on how Mendelsund changed careers from being a classical pianist and fell into the publishing industry, thoughts on creativity and the role of covers in representing the ideas inside. Also included are some tributes to the author from people who’ve worked with him. Unlike some designers, thanks to the ethos of Alfred Knopf publications who grant him the time, Mendelsund reads if not devours the books that he designs for, and it is this connection to the writing that informs his art.

The drawback is that it was published in an overly large and heavy coffee table edition, not suitable for reading in bed or on the go. It's quite good looking but the inconvenience of the form factor drops my rating from just under 4 to a tad above 3. Recommended as library read, especially for graphic designers, but not a keeper.

[Tracy]

Wow, I didn't realize how many iconic covers Mendelsund designed... and that's not counting whatever's been made since 2014! This is a well-done collection -- I especially liked seeing collections of a single author or line. This includes some commentary (by Mendelsund, others in the industry, and authors whose books he's designed covers for) as well as covers that weren't selected. As another designer with little formal training, I appreciated his thoughts. My small quibble on the book's design is that his commentary is set pretty small and sometimes turned sideways or lost in the shadows of the spine.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book as Mendelsund delivers his insights on the creative process and design. I enjoyed how this famous book cover designer explained his process and looking at his drafts as he developed a cover. Mendelsund is just amazing, and it was great to see the process behind the curtain. Though this book focuses on book cover design, the process Mendulsund covers is about design generally and uses cover design just as an example.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and a cool read if you are interested in book cover design. Also, very inspiring, I loved it.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book with a lot to look and think about re: design. A bit heavy on the cult of Mendelsund though...

[Lynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nerd alert: this book is about designing book covers/jackets. I found it very interesting; others might not.

[Elisa M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected. I had hoped for more of the author's thought process as he designed the covers.

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

COVER is an intense crash course in modern design, a short biography of the unlikely hero moving his way through life into an unlikely position, a coffee table book of beautiful cover art, a reflection of the nature and purpose of books and cover design, and a gorgeous love letter to art and books.

This book is absolutely beautiful, both in content and construction. Through its pages, one receives a hefty education on both the creation of content based on other artwork as well as an overall appreciation for the thought and thoroughness that goes into the design of some of the most famous book covers of our generation. Mendelsund's ingenuity and creativity, as well as resourcefulness and respect for his work is astonishing - and what is perhaps most impressive is learning that he has absolutely no formal training in the work whatsoever and fell into it through a series of impressive connections at the perfect time of his life. It is as if the man has lived two American Dreams.

Cover is a gorgeous book that would easily serve as a centerpiece to a room as well as be home in the reading curriculum of any design student; a pleasure to read and browse. Besides the contents, it is well constructed and printed.

[Mac · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to meet and then exceed my expectations for Peter Mendelsund's Cover.

First, include numerous book cover samples--some beautiful, some clever, some puzzling (at first), many simple (yet somehow complex), all imaginative. Also, include numerous rejects, the precursors to the final selections, rejects that reveal the designer's development process and the creative mind at work. It's all there, what I had expected from a large format book by a prestigious designer. But there's more...

Include stimulating, thought-provoking text that describes the designer's task, the ultimate goal, the choices at hand, and the interactions with authors and editors. Then include a touch of biography (but not too much), some observations from others (always over-the-top glowing appreciations), and some of Mendelsund's philosophical musings. Add a coda that looks warily to the author's future, and you have thought-provoking prose interspersed among the many delightful book covers.

So exquisite book jackets and stimulating text; it's what I had expected from Cover and much, much more.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Mendelsund's career sounds pretty improbable (he interviewed with Chip Kidd holding a few designs for friends in bands and immediately got a job), but there's no denying that he's good at what he does. The covers are organized by genre, and many examples include rejected covers or comments from the authors. I found the latter to be overly fawning (yes, I know it's a monograph to showcase his work, but still), but the former elucidating. When I worked in publishing, my favorite part was going to cover meetings with the designers and sales and marketing. Mendelsund's comments about how he gets away with some of his designs (i.e. his work isn't so outré to need excessive justification, just good) is kind of disingenuous because some of his work is unexpected treatments that might cause hesitation in people whose job it is to position a book in terms of what customers already know. In any case, I found a couple of books to add to my tbr list.

(Also because I feel the need to say this: does anyone else feel like the proposed public domain package just looked lazy? Same with the folk tales.)

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting book! I heard about it from NPR. Book cover design is something that I see a lot of but have never really given much thought too. It is one of those things in life that someone spent time creating and designing, but what little thought most of us probably spend thinking about covers (aside from the grand or unimpressive). This book has me seeing cover design in a whole new way. Peter Mendelsund takes you through his basic ideas for designing covers and his multiple approaches. His work is very distinctive that I recognized some of the covers in the book though I had never read them. The most interesting covers exhibited were the one that was excepted compared to all the other designs that were not. I would have liked to have seen more rejected covers in this compendium. I really like his understated style. He ends with good advice to budding designers, that the problem isn't having five great ideas but rather trying to cram five great ideas into one little cover.

I highly recommend this gorgeous book.

[Thomas Pack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Mendelsund was a concert pianist before he became a book cover designer. “With design there is none of this namby-pamby ‘profundity,’ I was previously dealing with,” he says in Cover. “Clever and pretty seem to be the benchmarks of good design. Smart is encouraged but not de rigueur.”

But all of the covers in Mendelsund’s book are smart. Many are profound. And the insights he puts on his covers often reflect profundity in the pages.

For instance, his covers for works by Franz Kafka feature large eyeballs in lurid colors. Jane Mendelsohn, author of the best-selling I Was Amelia Earhart, notes that the eyes capture “Kafka’s profound visual sensibility and his awareness that we process the world and reading often as a visual experience.”

You can read more about Cover on my Goodreads blog.

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I am paid to read great books and interpret them. I have the greatest job in the world."

Peter Mendelsund got a degree in philosophy, was a (not terribly successful) concert pianist, taught himself design, and became a book-cover designer. As he explains in his book, a cover is . . .

* a skin

* a frame

* a reminder

* a souvenir/talisman/token

* a decoration

* a name tag/secret handshake ("advertisements for ourselves")

* a teaser, like a movie trailer

* a trophy

* a carnival barker/billboard/advertisement

* a translation

* an unnecessary thing

[Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inside look at not how to be a graphic designer but rather how ONE specific designer approaches his craft. Works better than his other work in that it does not try to embody a gestalt of how everyone experiences reading but rather acts like opening Mr. Mendlesund skull and how his mind works when approaching his craft. His mind is wonderfully anarchic and quite willingly is gleefully contrary to expectation.

A delightful amazingly open look at one artist's creative process.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book!! The art photography and layout were fantastic and the anecdotes interesting. The only thing I thought was lacking and what I was left wanting more of was information about what went into creating each book design and any stories about the process of each cover. Other than that this was great read!!

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful to look at. Interesting to read. Updated my -books to read- list because of their covers! Expensive book, I asked my library to get it for me and they had it within a week. Tip of the hat to public libraries.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful book for my research.

[Jamil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Peter Mendelsund apparently has had a huge impact on both my potential reading list & the books I tend to put on display at the library.

[Salvatore · Rating 5 out of 5]

MENDELSUND! Most colorful acquisition for my bookshelf I made all year. And Peter is an all around great guy too.

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Mendelsund is a genius. Period.