Monday 3 January 2011

On the 10th Day of Christmas...

...this blogger gave to thee...
...ten words for reading...
...nine balloon dresses...
...eight resolutions
...seven pretty shoesies...
...six party dresses...
...five gold rings!..
...four collared hangers...
...three Mad Men...
...two hedgehog gloves...
...and a house to dunk into your tea.

Okay, maybe not ten words, there's a lot more, however here are ten lovely cloth covered Penguin editions designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.

Aren't they beautiful? Simple - though I admit not as simple as the Penguin classic cover which I am very much enamoured of - but they are elegant and understated and you've got to appreciate a repetitive dual tone pattern.

One of my pet hates is when they start using film and television art work to flog books. So it is genuinely nice to see covers which neither conform to the stereotypical artwork of simpering girls in bonnets, painterly scenes or the poster of whichever adaptation has most recently graced (or indeed disgraced) our screens. Why not keep it simple?

Bickford-Smith bases each of her designs on the same basic grid formation, a design element which would help unify the covers and create a recognizable in the 23 book series. This also allowed for the repeating motif to be a representative of individual title. For example, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde plays on the theme of vanity and superficiality, so the motif is a peacock feather, which is supposed to symbolise these qualities. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë on the other hand has a motif of a chestnut leaf, which refers directly to the Chestnut tree which was struck by lightening, and is a symbol of the relationship between Jane and Rochester throughout the book. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is covered in pink flamingos, which rotate and tumble down the length of the cover, representing the croquet mallets used in the Red Queens court and Alice's first descent into Wonderland. And Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is covered in scissors, showing the sacrifice Jo makes of "her one beauty" to earn enough money so her mother can travel to be with her ill father.

Each design motif either links directly to a symbolic part of the text, or the overriding theme of the book, though in many ways it is done so subtly that unless you've read it, may not be aware and merely think it was an attractive pattern. Which is no bad thing. Even if you don't enjoy the contents, the covers and spines all lined up neatly together on your shelves (as above) would give a degree of enjoyment.

Coralie Bickford-Smith was interviewed by Design*Sponge in October 2009. This interview gives an insight into her design process for these books, how she chose her patterns, colours and the process of binding. Certainly worth a read.

Happy New Year! Part eleven tomorrow...

Link - Coralie Bickford-Smith

via - Penguin Clothbound Classic via my sister, Sarah. Thanks love. x
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Listening: Will Young - Golden Slumbers

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