Peeking Under the Covers

I was reading a hardback book recently and removed the dustcover to protect it from getting ruined while the book got jostled around in my purse. This is not something I normally do, which tells you how much I loved the book in question. (btw, I don’t buy HBs as a rule unless they’re on the remaindered table or at a deep discount (30%- 40% off at least).

One of the things I noted on this particular book was the end papers.


There were several end pages/papers at the beginning and end of the book, all of them with a lovely geometric pattern within a boarder and all done in color. The title—scripted—within the notched boarder design has been embossed into the front cover also, but I couldn’t capture the plain matt finish on film.


What I liked about the Neil Gaiman book is his initials in silver foil, the black used on the joint/spine with the very elegant silver/foil line near the edge. The same silver foil is used on the spine. (I’m calling it silver foil, but I don’t really know what the heck it is. *g* just that it’s metallic.)




Jayne Anne Krentz’s cover design was also a fairly simple/elegant execution with her monogram in silver foil on a very pretty blue background. Same metallic print is used on the spine.




The Last Apprentice has a textured finish to the hardcover. To me it reminds me of ‘skin’. I like the embossed ‘O’ and the red metallic print used for the title.




There’s nothing really special about the Charlene Harris book except the used of color. I like the white/purple combination.


Also, the Malcolm Gladwell hard cover is only notable to me because the initials embossed in the cover is not the author’s, or even the book title. It’s the publisher—Little & Brown. (sorry for the crappy pic, initials are within the red circle).




The graphic novels were a little more interesting.

Daredevil Yellow:

The image stamped into the cover isn’t done in metallic ink, but still fun/eye catching. Also love the splash-page type artwork on the inside cover.






The dustcover for Batman incorporated the artwork on the hardback cover.



And I found Iron Man is noteworthy because of the high gloss finish on the hardback, plus the title being so prominent.



While I’m on the subject of book design, I’ll also add that I love when publishers add a little flourish of artwork at the beginning of each chapter, or incorporated within the title header on each page, even if it’s just having the title underlined. Also, I haven’t seen this in awhile, but I like when the edges of the page are rough, like they’ve been hand-cut (I know there’s a technical term, but I’ll be arsed if I can look it up).

There hasn’t been a way to procrastinate yet, that I have not, or will not discover. :-P