05.15.2008

Cover Story

Barnes and Noble knows books. They know how to sell them and what sells them. They are the largest book retailer in the United States with over 1 million books available online. They also understand that a cover plays an important role in selling those books. Such a great role that book design is often considered a fine art form. Though the KINDLE by Amazon is selling well. The book that you can see, feel and show off will continue to have a story all its own.
B&N feels that each cover tells a story and have recently created the new STUDIO portion called COVER STORY of their website to document the design of books and the designers that create the covers you see and cherish.
COVER STORY most recently interviewed John Gall from his New York studio. John briefly explains his 5 rules of book cover design in the short documentary.
For those of you that don’t know. John Gall is Vice President and Art Director for Vintage and Anchor Books an imprint of Alfred A Knopf, which is a publishing group within Random House Inc. They publish about 200 books per year and are located on the windiest corner in mid-town Manhattan.
As the B&N title suggests, this is a section dedicated to “Books as seen through the eyes of those who design them.”
Check out John Gall’s 5 Rules HERE

POSTED BY ARTHUR