Knopf books, peter mendelsund has designed hundreds of book jackets over the past decade, including his acclaimed cover for the girl with the dragon tattoo. Book cover design peter mendelsund on 10th oct 2018 24th dec 2018 by imogen n coates in book cover design i love to read, and i also love to imagine how i might design a. Peter mendelsund on reading, cover design and his own. An original and visually engaging book cover can help make the difference between a flop and a smash, and over the years more than a few designers have taken the creative and mysterious process to levels of supreme beauty and imagination. Eventually mendelsund cobbled together a modest portfolio and secured an audience with chip kidd, the celebrated bookcover designer.
Knopf books, the art director of pantheon books, and a recovering classical pianist. This cover further cements peter mendelsunds status as a master of contemporary book cover design. If you find yourself in a bookstore, peter mendelsund can be hard to avoid. Peter mendelsund has designed hundreds of book covers, including two new ones of his own. These are masterpieces touched not only by language but by mr. Peter mendelsund is currently one of the bestknown book designers in the industry. Peter mendelsund has enjoyed years as a muchsoughtafter book cover designer and art director. The return of the paper book over the past decade or. Design was mendelsunds secondchoice profession, a stopgap while he reevaluated his career as a concert pianist.
Book cover design peter mendelsund imogens student blog. Peter mendelsund estimates hes designed somewhere between 600 and 1,000 book covers, ranging from crime and punishment to girl with the dragon tattoo. Peter mendelsund is that kind of designer and cover is the story of his love affair with books. He has been called the force behind some of todays most recognizable book covers by the new yorker, and his designs have been described as the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in. Peter mendelsund, cover and what we see when we read.
A gorgeously unique, fullcolor enhanced ebook edition of acclaimed cover designer and passionate reader peter mendelsunds exploration into the phenomenology of readinghow we visualize images from reading works of literature. Peter mendelsund has enjoyed years as a muchsoughtafter book cover designer. Among the many recognizable jackets he has created are. Kidd sensed a natural talent and bumped mendelsund along to. From the type selection to the graphic rendering of the collaged artwork, it tells you everything that you need to know in one fell swoop. Four designers discuss their work on recent book covers. Cover, a hefty monograph and look inside his knopf work from powerhouse books, and what we see when we read vintage, a gorgeously unique, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of reading.
Peter mendelsund often says that dead authors get the best book jackets. Cover abounds with mendelsunds completed book jackets along with ephemera from his previously unseen creative method, including jacket sketches, interior art and editorial illustrations, and scores of. The following is drawn from a conversation that occurred at the opening night of penguin random houses be my cover exhibit, which features 100 of the best of their book covers published worldwide within the past 10 years. See more ideas about book cover design, book design and cover design. Designing a book cover for italo calvino the new yorker. Kafka covers by peter mendelsund its a heart heart season. Geoff dyer, author of out of sheer rage, and another great day at sea once in a while im presented with covers that. Cover by peter mendelsund 9781576876671 boomerang books. From cover by peter mendelsund, published by powerhouse books this was one of mendelsunds original designs for the girl with the dragon tattoo, before the title of. Brilliant bookjacket design autodidact peter mendelsund recently released two new titles of his own. George baier iv virginia woolfs to the lighthouse revolves around the ramsay familys vacations on. Spinea conversation with peter mendelsund on writing.
Cover by peter mendelsund 2014, hardcover for sale. And my theory about what sells a book well is not a popular theory, but i think any cover that looks very different from all the covers around it, that cover is going to draw. Mendelsund, one of the truly great bookcover designers, explores what we see when we read, in a. Description cover by peter mendelsund they say you cant judge a book by its coverbut that hasnt stopped anyone from trying. His designs have been described by the wall street journal as being the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers.
Mendelsund, who has designed striking covers for departed. Knopf books, the art director of pantheon books, art director of vertical press, and a recovering classical pianist. Heres whats wrong with peter mendelsunds book covers. His designs have been described by the wall street journal as being the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in contemporary fiction. Among the many recognizable jackets he has created are those for the girl with the dragon tattoo. Now mendelsund has designed the covers for two new books of his own. What we see when we read is an expansion of an essay mendelsund originally wrote for his blog, on. Cover by peter mendelsund meet your next favorite book. Mendelsund is the associate art director at knopf and the author of two books, cover and what we see when we read. Peter mendelsund is best known for his smart, witty, and visually arresting book jackets for martin amis, ben.
In denmark book cover design is a rather underprioritized art form lots of great books are written and. Renowned and awardwinning designer of many bestselling books, peter mendelsund has enjoyed years as a muchsoughtafter designer and art director. Peter mendelsund, book designer, debuts as a writer the. October 16, 2014 peter mendelsund has designed hundreds of book covers, including two new ones of his own. Mendelsund s erudite use of images, time, imagination and memory. Peter mendelsund, a bookjacket designer, writes about the experience of reading. Art director and designer peter mendelsunds ability to create an engaging book jacket is the subject of two new books by mendelsund. His designs for stieg larssons girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy were described by the wall street journal as being the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in contemporary fiction, and the new.
Knopf already has a couple of nonfiction titles to his name what we see when we read and cover, with another, the look of the book, on the way and has now stepped into fiction with same same, a twisting metafictional meditation on. An original and visually engaging cover can help make the difference between a flop and a smash, and over the years more than a few designers have taken the creative and mysterious process to levels of supreme beauty and imagination. Peter mendelsunds cover a compilation of book covers and jackets that mendelsund 91cc designed over his eleven years so far in the business is a confidentlooking art book, but when the author tells his own story, he sounds surprisingly unsure. Peter mendelsund is the associate art director of alfred a. In recent years, peter mendelsund has been shifting his career from designing books to writing them. Celebrating the art of the book cover literary hub. Peter mendelsund s books cover and what we see when we read make us understand how we construct these images in our minds, based on the words and dreams of the writer. Cover powerhouse books, august 2014 abounds with mendelsunds completed book jackets along with ephemera from his previously unseen.
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