Judging a book by its cover
Posted by Paul O'Flynn on September 14, 2010 in with 0 CommentsPaul O'Flynn asks us to judge this year's Booker Prize nominees by their covers
Picture the scene. You are at the airport and thinking of buying a book or two to take with you on your hols. You browse through the selection wondering what to choose. If you are just looking for a particular author, then it's simple, you are not particularly concerned about how the book looks. If however, you have no idea what you want, what is it that will help you decide? What criteria do you use to make your decision. A quirky title or is it the picture or illustration that grabs your attention, or maybe the use of type on the cover or the print finish and colour? Whatever it is, no matter what, we all initially judge a book by its cover. (Of course, after choosing, everyone reads the couple of paragraphs on the back, just to push you over the edge and help you make that final decision of whether or not to buy). However, back to the cover. What should a book cover tell you apart from the title and author? Obviously, some indication as to what is contained inside. I recently read a book called “White Tiger” and on the cover was, you guessed it, an illustration of a white tiger. However, after reading the book, that is the last thing I would have used on the cover. On the 7th of September, the six shortlisted authors for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction were announced. The winner will be announced on the 12th of October. Now picture yourself browsing through the six shortlisted books. Which one grabs your attention? Below are the six book covers. All I’m asking you to do is select the one that appeals to you the most and say why in the comments box and submit. And come October, we can see if our judging panel matches the Booker panel. In my opinion, the title is something that attracts me. “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night” or “A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian”, both of which I chosen in the past because of their titles. So in that light, “Parrot and Olivier in America” jumps out at me and gets my vote. The illustration seems to be telling me that its a lighthearted read, maybe set on the ocean waves in the mid 19th century. A close second was “Room”. There is something peculiar about the view of the room, the roof colour and the fish eye optics used on the cover.
Paul O'Flynn 's professional experience is in graphic design and covers a wide range of disciplines within the visual communication industry.Find out more at Paul's Profile. Don't forget to subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
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