<
http://qz.com/207527/the-reason-every-book-about-africa-has-the-same-cover-and-its-not-pretty/>
"Last week, Africa Is a Country, a blog that documents and skewers
Western misconceptions of Africa, ran a fascinating story about book
design. It posted a collage of 36 covers of books that were either set
in Africa or written by African writers. The texts of the books were as
diverse as the geography they covered: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Africa,
Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique. They were written in wildly divergent
styles, by writers that included several Nobel Prize winners. Yet all of
books’ covers featured an acacia tree, an orange sunset over the veld,
or both."
Yeah, book cover design is tremendously clichéd and often bears little
relevance to the contents. I've heard the argument that it helps
browsers instantly get a sense of what they can expect, but since books
are already classified by genre I'm not convinced that a boring cover
actually adds any value.
Via Muse, who added:
"I worked as a graphic designer for the Leader Yellow Pages for awhile.
I had to churn out eight logos a day for customers. I used to beg with
plumbers to NOT go with a tap. ALL the other plumbers are using taps.
You will stand out if you use ANYTHING other than a tap. The same was
true with electricians and other occupations. People wanted the icon."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
