The best book covers of 2008

December 1, 2:45 PMDesign Trends ExaminerNeal Shaffer

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Image via the Book Design Review

Joseph Sullivan, writer/publisher of the excellent Book Design Review blog, is out with a list of his favorite book designs for 2008. Click here to give it a read.

A book cover needs to stand out on the shelf (a sales function) while at the same time giving a reasonable impression of what the reader might expect to find inside (a communications function). Not always an easy balance to strike. So much so that it seems like a lot of publishers stopped trying.

So I love this list because it shows just how many approaches can work in the hands of a talented designer, from brilliant simplicity (by Jennifer Carrow) to clever (but not overly so) self-reference (by David Pearson), and on and on.

My favorite has to be the image above, by Gray 318. I like it for its basic visual language, but also because it reminds me a lot of Alvin Lustig, about whom I'm planning to write a lot in the coming weeks.

Every one of Sullivan's choices is worthy. Congrats to the designers involved on standing out in a crowded field.