Aug 05, 2014 peter mendelsund is currently one of the bestknown book designers in the industry. He lives in manhattan with his wife and two daughters. Peter mendelsunds book list i dont believe ive ever read a design book in my entire life. Peter mendelsund is an art director and designer in new york city. Design was mendelsunds secondchoice profession, a stopgap while he reevaluated.
Peter mendelsund is currently one of the bestknown book designers in the industry. Peter mendelsund books covers whatnot about peter mendelsund books covers whatnot about. Designing a book cover for italo calvino the new yorker. Peter stanbury united kingdom na peter stanbury is an english, londonbased author, editor and professional graphic designer. Now, in two new books of his own, he looks at the design process itself and examines how readers. Peter is obviously doing the rounds and quite well to promote his new book. Design was mendelsund s secondchoice profession, a stopgap while he reevaluated his career as a concert pianist. Among book designers, peter mendelsund is the best reader of all. Among the many recognizable jackets he has created are those for the girl with the dragon tattoo. Now i just saw another article on wired, shared by tim ferriss peter is obviously doing the rounds and quite well to promote his new book. Mendelsund argues that reading is an act of cocreation, and that our impressions of characters and places owe as much to our own memory and experience as to the descriptive powers of authors. Aug 11, 2014 as associate art director of alfred a.
Peter mendelsund, an associate art director at knopf, as well as an art director at pantheon and vertical press, is the force behind some of todays most. As the great american cover designer peter mendelsund put it to me, books have more cloth, more foil, more embossing, page staining, sewn bindings, deckled edges. Kidd sensed a natural talent and bumped mendelsund along to. Zachary petit march 21, 2015 get inside the mind of peter mendelsund, the pianist who went from tchaikovsky to tolstoy and became one of the best book cover designers working today, with editor zac petits interview in print s 75th anniversary issue. Describing the indescribable with jeff vandermeer boing boing. Now i just saw another article on wired, shared by tim ferriss. Rather, its something about the way the cover illuminates the text.
Why you have no idea what your favorite characters look like. Learn how to read as a graphic designer, iterate with imagination, and break the rules to make your message stand out. Peter mendelsund was a classical pianist before he changed his career to become a book cover designer. Peter mendelsund on book cover art, book cover design, book.
Peter mendelsund, book designer, debuts as a writer the. How real books have trumped ebooks books the guardian. Just as peter mendelsund is an accomplished pianist, salter came from a family of musicians, playing the cello during his childhood years in germany. Jim gleick, bestselling author of the information peter mendelsund is to the art of book design what walter murch is to the art of filmediting. Nov 12, 2019 an author and wellknown book designer, the atlantic earlier this year lured mendelsund away from his job as an art director at knopf to lead the redesign of the magazine and its digital. Cue peter mendelsund, who is an accomplished book jacket designer and illustrator. Describing the indescribable with jeff vandermeer boing. Knopf books, peter mendelsund has designed hundreds of book jackets over the past decade, including his acclaimed cover for the girl with the dragon tattoo. Peter mendelsund has peered into our messy heads and produced an illuminating, kaleidoscopic meditation on reading.
Peter mendelsund has enjoyed years as a muchsoughtafter book cover designer and art director. Knopf already has a couple of nonfiction titles to his name what we see when we read and cover, with another, the look of the book, on the way. Heres whats wrong with peter mendelsunds book covers. Peter mendelsund s cover a compilation of book covers and jackets that mendelsund 91cc designed over his eleven years so far in the business is a confidentlooking art book, but when the author tells his own story, he sounds surprisingly unsure. Peter mendelsund estimates hes designed somewhere between 600 and 1,000 book covers, ranging from crime and punishment to girl with the dragon tattoo. Worryfree book design for authors worldwide, including book cover and page design. Enter the world of the delivery boy, who must peddle his way to 5star customer ratingsand, perhaps, freedomin novelist and graphic designer peter mendelsunds the delivery. Peter mendelsund often says that dead authors get the best book jackets. Four designers discuss their work on recent book covers.
A couple weeks ago i saw an article about peter mendelsunds new book on book cover design. Mendelsund is the associate art director at alfred a. See more ideas about good books, book cover design and book design. Peter mendelsunds cover a compilation of book covers and jackets that mendelsund 91cc designed over his eleven years so far in the business is a confidentlooking art book, but when the author tells his own story, he sounds surprisingly unsure. Jul 29, 2014 peter mendelsund often says that dead authors get the best book jackets. Geoff dyer, author of out of sheer rage, and another great day at sea once in a while im presented with covers that cross the barriers of cultural reference and visual language. You always recognize one of his covers when you see it, and its not because he tends toward certain colors or typefacesquite the opposite. Peter mendelsund, a bookjacket designer, writes about the experience of reading. Book designer peter mendelsund interviews the author of annihilation, authority, and acceptancea trilogy now collected in a single volume as area x.
And the james joyce books, the minimalist covers with the corrections as part of the design. From cover by peter mendelsund, published by powerhouse books. Peter mendelsunds brilliant covers for julio cortazar novel see saves related to architecture and graphic. Peter mendelsund book cover design, book design, book. His work, now around 600 jackets, accompanies editions of contemporary and classic fiction and translations, both. Peter mendelsund is best known for his smart, witty, and visually arresting book jackets for martin amis, ben marcus, stieg larsson, tom mccarthy, and james gleick. Designer peter mendelsund uses a symbol of the eye in a series of republications of franz kafkas books and letters. Now kidd is moving on to other projects and has handpicked a new freelance art director for vertical, peter mendelsund, a noted book designer who, like kidd, works fulltime at alfred a. I dont think ive ever read a single book devoted solely to the visual arts or architecture either, unless you include the occasional biography of a painter, or an essay collection here. A couple weeks ago i saw an article about peter mendelsund s new book on book cover design. Peter mendelsund got a degree in philosophy, was a not terribly successful concert pianist, taught himself design, and became a book cover designer. Authored by legendary designer and art director peter mendelsund who has designed iconic covers for authors such as. Peter mendelsund is to the art of book design what walter murch is to the art of filmediting. Oct 3, 2015 peter mendelsund is best known for his smart, witty, and visually arresting book jackets for martin amis, ben marcus, stieg larsson, tom mccarthy, and.
Peter mendelsund is best known for his smart, witty, and visually arresting book jackets for martin amis, ben marcus, stieg larsson, tom. Thats kind of an anomalous one in that there were so many other people involved in the approval process. Knopf books, the art director of pantheon books, art director of vertical press, and a recovering classical pianist. He delves into the mysteries of how our imaginations create the world of the book we are reading. Countries go wrong, sometimes, and sometimes the luckier citizens of those countries have a chance to escape and seek refuge in another countrya country that might itself be in the process of going wrong. Designer peter mendelsund, famous for designing the cover of. Eventually mendelsund cobbled together a modest portfolio and secured an audience with chip kidd, the celebrated book cover designer. Knopf book designer hates the classic great gatsby cover. The following is drawn from a conversation that occurred at the opening night of penguin random houses be my cover exhibit, which features 100 of the best of their book covers published worldwide within the past 10 years.
Mendelsund, who has designed striking covers for departed literary giants like kafka, dostoyevsky, tolstoy and joyce. Peter mendelsund is the author of this delightful little book, what we see when we read. Jun 14, 2016 this pin was discovered by naomi bardoff. The art of designing ulysses, lolita and the girl with. Apr 08, 2014 peter mendelsund got a degree in philosophy, was a not terribly successful concert pianist, taught himself design, and became a book cover designer. Celebrating the art of the book cover literary hub. Im very interested in finding those visual emblems or occasions in a book that i can then translate into something visual.
As far as i can gather its that he deeply reads a text. Nov 12, 2014 book designer peter mendelsund interviews the author of annihilation, authority, and acceptancea trilogy now collected in a single volume as area x peter mendelsund 4 am wed, nov 12 2014 submit. One of my favorite book cover designers is peter mendelsund. Peter mendelsund has been named creative director of the atlantic, and his frequent design partner oliver munday will become the publishers new senior art director. In this 66minute class, acclaimed cover designer peter mendelsund shares his process for creating a book jacket that conveys the authors vision, sells the book, and pushes you as an artist. A playful, illustrated treatise on how words give rise to mental images.
The look of the book examines the art of the book cover through notable covers and the stories behind them, interviews with artists and literary luminaries, galleries of the many different jackets of bestselling books, and more. The atlantic hires renowned publishing design team peter. Oct 16, 2014 peter mendelsund estimates hes designed somewhere between 600 and 1,000 book covers, ranging from crime and punishment to girl with the dragon tattoo. I enjoy working with firsttime authors who are selfpublishing, as well as established publishers. Peter mendelsund s book list i dont believe ive ever read a design book in my entire life. Mendelsund, who has designed striking covers for departed literary giants like kafka, dostoyevsky, tolstoy and. Enter the world of the delivery boy, who must peddle his way to 5star customer ratingsand, perhaps, freedomin novelist and graphic designer peter mendelsund s the delivery. Peter mendelsunds first novel manages to be breezy and profound in equal measure, and the. Mendelsund has long been regarded as one of the top book designers at work today, taking his place alongside design luminaries like chip. The author is a highly regarded bookjacket designer. Now mendelsund has designed the covers for two new books of his own. The atlantic magazine redesign new logo peter mendelsund wwd. An acclaimed book jacket designer and art director, mendelsund investigates, through words and pictures, what we see when we read text and where those images come from. Knopf books, peter mendelsund has designed hundreds of book jackets over the past decade, including.
My wife got pregnant, and we just needed more money. Mendelsund designed a book that shows us what we see, when we read. Nada backovic is an awardwinning book designer, graphic. His designs for stieg larssons girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy were. If you find yourself in a bookstore, peter mendelsund can be hard to avoid. His breakdown of the reading and visualizing processes yields many insights. Among the many recognizable jackets he has created are. Spinea conversation with peter mendelsund on writing. Mar 11, 2019 harvard book store welcomes designer and writer peter mendelsund, whose work has been described by the wall street journal as the most instantly recognizable and iconic in contemporary fiction, for a discussion of his debut novel, same same. Aug 23, 2014 book designer peter mendelsund is one of the most soughtafter book cover artists in the world. His designs for stieg larssons girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy were described by the wall street journal as being the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in contemporary fiction. Growing up in a household of artists, salter became acquainted with set design for theatre, something he. Book cover design peter mendelsund imogens student blog.
I dont think ive ever read a single book devoted solely to the visual arts or architecture either, unless you include the occasional biography of a painter, or an essay collection here and there that might have happened to include. His designs have been described by the wall street journal as being the most instantly recognizable and iconic book. I finished my masters in music and was gigging around new york city, teaching composition, orchestration, theory, and piano. Its an extremely strange process reading as a designer.
George salter germany and new york, usa george salter, previously georg salter, is considered one of the grandfathers of modern book design. What we see when we read by peter mendelsund the boston globe. Now i just saw another article on wired, shared by. Harvard book store welcomes designer and writer peter mendelsund, whose work has been described by the wall street journal as the most instantly recognizable and iconic in contemporary fiction, for a discussion of his debut novel. Peter mendelsund on reading, cover design and his own. Book cover design peter mendelsund on 10th oct 2018 24th dec 2018 by imogen n coates in book cover design i love to read, and i also love to imagine how i might design a. His designs for stieg larssons girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy were described by the wall street journal as being the most instantly recognizable and iconic book. He has designed many book covers and hes an avid reader. Countries go wrong, sometimes, and sometimes the luckier citizens of those countries have a chance to escape and seek refuge in another countrya country that. As a designer his areas of expertise include exhibitions, business journals, comicbooks, graphic novels, magazines, and book design. What we see when we read is an expansion of an essay mendelsund originally wrote for his blog, on. He will be joined in conversation by harvard humanities associate professor david alworth. Brilliant book cover designer peter mendelsund offers a look into his process and philosophy, and showcases 14 of his works.
Peter mendelsund, book designer, debuts as a writer the new. Cover is a collection of hundreds of his book covers, including many. Knopf already has a couple of nonfiction titles to his name what we see when we read and cover, with another, the look of the book, on the way and has now stepped into fiction with same same, a twisting metafictional meditation on. In recent years, peter mendelsund has been shifting his career from designing books to writing them. Peter mendelsund is the associate art director of alfred a. Knopf books, art director of pantheon books, art director of vertical press, and a recovering classical pianist. George baier iv virginia woolfs to the lighthouse revolves around the ramsay familys vacations on. Aug 27, 2014 it could be the work of designers like peter mendelsund, whose new book cover was released earlier this month. Learn how to read as a graphic designer, iterate with imagination, and break the.