Earliest Known Book Jacket Discovered

Oxford University’s Bodleian Library discovered what it thinks may be the oldest known book jacket. LINK

Early book jackets were not treated as the marketing pieces they are today–instead they were meant to be a means of protecting the book’s delicate binding from dirt and abrasions, which it fully covered much like the wrapper of a package… hence the term “dust jacket” I suppose?

New Cover—Classic Toys Hall of Fame Book

I recently finished work on a complete design for a book produced in conjunction with Running Press and the National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester. You may remember the Toy Hall of Fame from recent news, where they inducted a “stick” into their permanent museum exhibit. Curators ”praised its all-purpose, no-cost, recreational qualities, noting its ability to serve either as raw material or an appendage transformed in myriad ways by a child’s creativity.” Amen.  This was a really fun job to work on, and the Running Press folks helped turn it into a seriously nice end result.

 

Favorite Book Cover Designs of 2008

The Book Design Review has posted the winning cover designs for 2008, as voted for by readers of the BDR blog. The winning choice certainly isn’t the one I would have picked, although it’s certainly a nice enough cover. My fave–Obsession–did at least rank, although it didn’t make the top 3. I was also glad to see Against Happiness rank as well–both of these are ultra-simple designs that distill the greater idea down to its purest essence–which in my opinion often makes for quick communication and an excellent cover.  But, some very nice work overall by everyone involved!