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Judging books by their covers,
Liars and Saints Half in Love Both: Part of my idea for this series, aside from taking apart covers I felt could have been done better, was to hold up what I consider completely successful designs, the kinds of dust jackets that call me over to the table where they’re resting and insinuate themselves and their books into my hands. Here are two such covers. There is such a gentle harmony of color and imagery, contrasted with an understated but stark title treatment, which is applied more gently to the author’s name and the other type elements. Is this really the same Trade Gothic Bold Condensed from Treason? Yes, and how much more elegant it is here. Like it’s happier to be here, with which I can fully sympathize. The author worked with the same designer and illustrator on both books. As mentioned earlier, that approach often bothers me, but usually because the result is gaudy and meaningless, meant only to grab your eye in the supermarket. But I have no cause to complain here — these two covers are just too enchanting. The illustrator, Pascal Milelli, has a delicate eye for collage, and the designer, John Fulbrook III, knows how to balance the illustration and the text so that the illustration is the focus, but you can’t miss the title and the author. Judgment: Buy both books in hardcover, take the covers off and frame them, then put them in a prominent place where you’ll see them all the time.
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