Nov 23, 2012
IN – Natsuo Kirino
A literary mystery from the Queen of Japanese Noir.
R is the other woman in a 1940s novel that recounts the damage she did to her lover’s family. Her identity remains shrouded in mystery. Tamaki is determined to find out who R...


IN – Natsuo Kirino

A literary mystery from the Queen of Japanese Noir.

R is the other woman in a 1940s novel that recounts the damage she did to her lover’s family. Her identity remains shrouded in mystery. Tamaki is determined to find out who R really was. A writer herself, she is working on a book about R and begins to uncover clues about the true story behind the novel. As Tamaki throws herself into her research, her own life begins to strike echoes with the subject of her work.

The idea for the cover was to have layered sheets of paper to reflect the depth of this novel-within-a-novel. The type is an adapted version of Century Schoolbook which helps to give a period feel, and yellow was chosen for the title as it is a significant colour in the book.

The photograph is by Guillaume Amat / Millennium Images, UK.

Nov 21, 2012
VINTAGE BURGESS
Isidro Ferrer was commissioned to create a series of stark graphic illustrations, where several images combine on each cover, in a playful almost surreal way. Each cover has an off white background with simple san serif title.
Ferrer...


VINTAGE BURGESS

Isidro Ferrer was commissioned to create a series of stark graphic illustrations, where several images combine on each cover, in a playful almost surreal way. Each cover has an off white background with simple san serif title.

Ferrer is one of the most reputed current designers in Spain. His work includes that for the National Drama Centre and his work for the newspaper   El País.

www.isidroferrer.com

Nov 19, 2012
HAMMOND INNES
Hammond Innes (1913-1998) wrote over 30 books – thrillers with sturdy, plain-speaking British heroes at the centre; ordinary men caught up in impossible events. Innes journeyed all over the world, working as a journalist, whaler,...

HAMMOND INNES

Hammond Innes (1913-1998) wrote over 30 books – thrillers with sturdy, plain-speaking British heroes at the centre; ordinary men caught up in impossible events. Innes journeyed all over the world, working as a journalist, whaler, soldier, but primarily sailing the high seas and racing in his yacht the Mary Deare. He turned all of his adventures into stories, and many of them were bestsellers.
 
We will reissue four of his novels in Vintage Classics in June 2013, and have just designed fresh new covers, with commissioned illustrations from Chris Coady. They have the right balance of nostalgia and vintage adventure, with a colourful, modern appeal.
 
Chris Coady is represented by NB Illustration.

Nov 16, 2012
BLOOD HORSES - John Jeremiah Sullivan
One evening late in his life, veteran sportswriter Mike Sullivan was asked by his son what he remembered best from his three decades in the press box. The answer came as a surprise. ‘I was at Secretariat’s Derby,...

BLOOD HORSES - John Jeremiah Sullivan

One evening late in his life, veteran sportswriter Mike Sullivan was asked by his son what he remembered best from his three decades in the press box. The answer came as a surprise. ‘I was at Secretariat’s Derby, in ’73. That was…just beauty, you know?’

John Jeremiah Sullivan didn’t know, not really, but he spent two years finding out, journeying from prehistoric caves to the Kentucky Derby. The result is Blood Horses, a wise, humorous and often beautiful memoir exploring the relationship between man and horse and the relationship between a sportswriter’s son and his late father.

We had great fun researching old Derby posters and piecing together woodcut typography for the cover.

Publication date: 14th March 2013

Nov 12, 2012
VINTAGE DESIGN INTERNSHIP
Rosie Palmer
I am very much enjoying my time in the Vintage Design Department. I’ve found myself working on many different tasks, from scanning images to laying out book jackets, through to making decisions about what type...


VINTAGE DESIGN INTERNSHIP

Rosie Palmer

I am very much enjoying my time in the Vintage Design Department. I’ve found myself working on many different tasks, from scanning images to laying out book jackets, through to making decisions about what type best suits both the image on the jacket, and the content of the book. Most recently I have been laying out some hand drawn type which will be featured on the front cover of an upcoming title.

After studying elements of publishing at university as part of my graphic’s degree, my time at Random House is giving me a great practical experience in a design field that I would like to pursue.

Thanks to everyone that has been so kind, welcoming and helpful. 

rosiepalmer.co.uk

Nov 9, 2012


THE TALE OF RAW HEAD AND BLOODY BONES - Jack Wolf

Beautiful animation from Daniel Egnéus to promote Jack Wolf’s latest novel.

Nov 2, 2012


SUMMER OF UNREST

A year on from their original publication, The Summer of Unrest series brings together stellar writers to explore the issues surrounding the austerity measures in the UK, uprisings in the Middle East and the nature of the protest movements springing up all over the world.

With 2011 being known as the year of the protester, the covers feature hand drawn typography and images inspired by protest art, particularly the gorgeous Paris protest posters from the late 1960’s.

Oct 30, 2012
GRAVITY’S RAINBOW - Thomas Pynchon
A very difficult cover to visualise, so the aim here was to to keep it simple.
As the cliché goes - it’s not rocket science. (Although in this case it is).


GRAVITY’S RAINBOW - Thomas Pynchon

A very difficult cover to visualise, so the aim here was to to keep it simple.
As the cliché goes - it’s not rocket science. (Although in this case it is).

Oct 23, 2012


LAURA - Vera Casparay

Vintage Classics are due to release this noir novel with the cover showing a close crop on a period photograph from the Corbis Picture Library.

Alongside is the cover that got away.

Oct 19, 2012
JAMES JOYCE CLASSICS
These two Vintage Classics are the work of illustrator Judit Ferencz and are due for release in December 2012. Judit was briefed to create storyboards that would offer an implied narrative, but stop at telling the full tale....


JAMES JOYCE CLASSICS

These two Vintage Classics are the work of illustrator Judit Ferencz and are due for release in December 2012. Judit was briefed to create storyboards that would offer an implied narrative, but stop at telling the full tale. After much research, she supplied a selection of cleverly-cropped images that played off each other suggesting stories within a story - the result being these wonderfully poetic designs.

Oct 17, 2012
VINTAGE 3D SCI-FI
Last year we published a set of Classic Science Fiction titles. Inspired by 1950s science fiction B-movies, we designed 3D covers using a basic, anaglyph (red/blue), stereoscopic technique, and the books came with a pair of 3D...


VINTAGE 3D SCI-FI

Last year we published a set of Classic Science Fiction titles. Inspired by 1950s science fiction B-movies, we designed 3D covers using a basic, anaglyph (red/blue), stereoscopic technique, and the books came with a pair of 3D glasses. Each designer worked closely with a different illustrator (Vladimir Zimakov, Mick Brownfield, Jim Tierney and Sara Ogilvie) to achieve covers that work well in both 2D and 3D!

Oct 15, 2012
HOW SHOULD A PERSON BE? -Sheila Heti
What is the most noble way to love?
What can we learn from others?
What kind of person should you be?
Part literary novel, part racy confessional, How Should a Person Be? is due to be published in Jan 2013.
The...


HOW SHOULD A PERSON BE? -Sheila Heti

What is the most noble way to love? 

What can we learn from others? 

What kind of person should you be?

Part literary novel, part racy confessional, How Should a Person Be? is due to be published in Jan 2013.

The idea was that the question mark could be created in any manner of media to reflect a question being asked. We commissioned Rachel Lillie to paint the layout that we designed in-house in black and white.

Rachel Lillie said she was looking for a sense of spontaneity and sincerity was needed to evoke the titular question of the novel. ‘Keeping to a tight template sent of the chosen question mark, we painted each element of the cover separately; The background, the dots and the question mark. Then we altered and experimented with the best colour combination in photoshop, not altering too much, to maintain a painterly and handmade quality.’

To see more work by Rachel Lillie click here

Oct 12, 2012


EVERYTHING WAS MOVING

The Design team visited the Barbican Art Gallery this week to see the current exhibition Everything was Moving: Photography from the 60s and 70s, which features over 400 works by twelve photographers from around the world. The photographs as a body illustrate not only the dramatically changing times of the decades the exhibition spans, but also developments within the medium of photography itself.

We were familiar with some of the photographers and are privileged to have used work by a couple of them on our covers over the years. We were however enthralled by several photographers new to us, perhaps most notably the work of the South African Ernest Cole, a self-taught photographer who against the odds managed to make an extraordinary and moving record of the hardship of every day life for black people under the Apartheid regime.

This is a hugely rewarding and thought-provoking exhibition set within the broad sweep and turbulent times of two decades, from China’s Cultural Revolution, the Civil Rights movement in the USA, life in the Soviet Union, the Vietnam War and beyond.

Photographers included in the show: Ernest Cole, David Goldblatt, Bruce Davidson, William Eggleston, Graciela Iturbide, Boris Mikhailov, Shomei Tomatsu, Larry Burrows, Li Zhensheng, Malick Sidibé, Raghubir Singh, Sigmar Polke

Oct 3, 2012


VINTAGE WIGGO

On 22 July 2012 Bradley Wiggins became the first British man ever to win the Tour de France. In an instant ‘Wiggo’ became a national hero. Ten days later, having swapped his yellow jersey for the colours of Team GB, he won Olympic gold in the time trial, adding to his previous six medals to become the nation’s most decorated Olympian of all time.

For the cover of his autobiography, we wanted an image of Bradley that was striking and confident. The focus being on a no nonsense shot of the man himself, with a hint of the famous Yellow Jersey which comes from winning the world’s toughest race. We worked with the excellent photographer John Wright to help achieve these fantastic shots, more of which can be seen on the final jacket.

My Time is published on November 8th from Yellow Jersey Press.

Oct 1, 2012

Photobucket

VINTAGE LOVES FILM

Published in August 2010, this was a one-off series aimed at consumers who may have seen the film but not read the book. We wanted to avoid a film tie-in approach, or work with film stills, so the visual conceit would lie in how we described the transition of spoken word to typed word.

It occurred that film fanatics can quote lines from their favourite films. For instance, we may not have seen Casablanca, but we may well have heard the lines – ‘Here’s looking at you, kid,’ ‘Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine’. So why not use quotes from the film to sell the book?

We made a point of selecting quotes that were relevant to both film and book whilst making sure we remained faithful to the wording of the novel. The author name and title were relegated to the spine so that the quotes would be read as the description of the book, and not as typographic window dressing. Our insistence to work only with quotes and forego the usual trade conventions was initially met with some concerns, but the positive reactions from authors and estates alike confirmed that it was a bold, but correct approach

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