Winter 2008
You can judge by the cover
Gateways: An International Exhibition of Book Covers, Portugal
Andrew Howard<br> €25, plus postage, from <br>studioandrewhoward.com, or fnac.pt
Designer Andrew Howard’s catalogue of his exhibition Gateways: An International Exhibition of Book Covers, Portugal is a fascinating snapshot of contemporary book cover approaches, with more than 400 examples from 53 designers in fourteen countries (price €25, plus postage, from studioandrewhoward.com, or fnac.pt).
In the introductory essays, Jon Gray describes life as a jacket freelance (‘a lot of the work I do evolves from found pieces of typography… a steady stream of junk arrives from eBay), while the inexhaustible David Pearson describes the genesis of his ‘Great Ideas’ series for Penguin as well as showing his pattern-based covers for French publisher Editions Zulma.
The catalogue also includes João Bicker’s covers for Portuguese publisher Fenda Edições, where a variety of subjects, authors and typographic styles are held together by the typeface Monotype Modern Extended, two printing colours and the publisher’s mark.
Simon Esterson, Eye art director, London
First published in Eye no. 70 vol. 18, 2008
Eye is the world’s most beautiful and collectable graphic design journal, published quarterly for professional designers, students and anyone interested in critical, informed writing about graphic design and visual culture. It is available from all good design bookshops and online at the Eye shop, where you can buy subscriptions and single issues.
