It would be interesting to hear/think a little bit about truly iconic book covers, too! I think of Michael Whelan's work on Anne McCaffrey's books, or Jody Lee's long association with Mercedes Lackey. There's also a semi-recent bit about re-packaging the Pern books using bad stock art - there was a tweet somewhere that ID'd the outline on one as the Shrek dragon. SA Chakraborty's Daevabad books feel in that tradition of truly lavish cover illustrations and paintings.
There are also certain series that I try to buy within the same edition because they have the covers I remember and associate with the characters, and of course covers that deliberately erase the characters or plot inside - putting white faces when the key characters are POC, for example.
I'm a huge fan of some of the impressionistic art that a lot of space opera covers have from back in the day: stuff like Chris Foss and John Harris's work: they certainly sold the books for me, and I definitely been swayed by many a good cover, even if the book is utterly terrible. (M.C. Planck's The Kassa Gambit comes to mind).
I definitely like continuity when it comes to edition types. One of my missions right now is to try and find as many old Redwall novels in hardcover, because the art was always great, but because the modern stylings just don't like up with the nostalgia that I have for those books...
I've always enjoyed the photography for the header in your pieces. It definitely highlights the beauty of the physical book in ways that people don't see on their eReader in 2020. I've seen the approach of having a drink (like tea or coffee) near the book and I'm not sure why it works, but it does!
I've always had fun taking them, if anything, to highlight the books that I get in the mail that I'll never be able to get to, but also just because it's a fun way to showcase covers and design.
I definitely feel this way about ebooks: I see the value and utility, but I definitely like seeing the physical copy in hand.
It would be interesting to hear/think a little bit about truly iconic book covers, too! I think of Michael Whelan's work on Anne McCaffrey's books, or Jody Lee's long association with Mercedes Lackey. There's also a semi-recent bit about re-packaging the Pern books using bad stock art - there was a tweet somewhere that ID'd the outline on one as the Shrek dragon. SA Chakraborty's Daevabad books feel in that tradition of truly lavish cover illustrations and paintings.
There are also certain series that I try to buy within the same edition because they have the covers I remember and associate with the characters, and of course covers that deliberately erase the characters or plot inside - putting white faces when the key characters are POC, for example.
Anyway, lots to think about!
I'm a huge fan of some of the impressionistic art that a lot of space opera covers have from back in the day: stuff like Chris Foss and John Harris's work: they certainly sold the books for me, and I definitely been swayed by many a good cover, even if the book is utterly terrible. (M.C. Planck's The Kassa Gambit comes to mind).
I definitely like continuity when it comes to edition types. One of my missions right now is to try and find as many old Redwall novels in hardcover, because the art was always great, but because the modern stylings just don't like up with the nostalgia that I have for those books...
I have a copy of Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre that I try to re-read every few years and dislike every single time because the cover art is SO GOOD.
I've always enjoyed the photography for the header in your pieces. It definitely highlights the beauty of the physical book in ways that people don't see on their eReader in 2020. I've seen the approach of having a drink (like tea or coffee) near the book and I'm not sure why it works, but it does!
I've always had fun taking them, if anything, to highlight the books that I get in the mail that I'll never be able to get to, but also just because it's a fun way to showcase covers and design.
I definitely feel this way about ebooks: I see the value and utility, but I definitely like seeing the physical copy in hand.