In a recent article called ‘E-Books Can’t Burn’ on nybooks.com, English author Tim Parks is discussing the emergence of e-books and how they in fact make the reader focus on the written word rather than the material and sensual qualities of the book as an object. Parks poses the question if these ‘...old habits might actually be distracting us from the written word itself?’ and continues by asking himself what it is that people are so afraid of losing if the paper novel would disappear. ‘Surely not the cover, so often a repository of misleading images and tediously fulsome endorsements.’
We would strongly disagree with this statement and propose that the graphic and visual qualities of a certain book cover or poster are in fact very powerful and could be the sole reason for a person to pick up a book and become a potential reader. Having said this, Tim Parks is most probably referring to the poorly designed covers (too many of them) decorating everything from dusty old books found in second hand bookstores to newly published novels.
In a competition launched to fight illiteracy Belgian design firm Beshart announced an international call for artists and designers to re-interpret the covers from the list ‘The Greatest Novels of All Time’ put together by journalists at the Observer in 2003. The lists ranges from classics like Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray to more unexpected entries such as Philip Pullman’s 1995 novel Northern Lights. We decided to ask Tom Haentjens a couple of questions on the connections between the written and the visual.
***
PAPER: First of all, what’s the story behind the Doedemee project?
Tom Haentjens: As a father of two wonderful little girls, it breaks my heart to know that there are kids having to survive day by day. They don’t get proper education, no fair chance in life, just because they were born in the wrong place. Since I’m not the kind of guy who leaves everything behind to start building schools in some remote area, I decided I should try to figure out a way to do what I like doing, and at the same time help those people who do leave it all behind to realize their wonderful dreams. Until last November my ideas never got beyond an embryonic stage or they became so big in my head that I didn’t have the guts to execute them. Then this particular idea came along and for some reason it felt so right, I just had to try to realize it. The enthusiastic and overwhelming response we got forced me to get serious with it. So here we are, 100 posters have been made, the first expos are being confirmed and the word is slowly getting out there via all sorts of social media.
P: For many people book covers can be a very sentimental thing, where the essence of the book is represented in a visual way. I had a copy of Bret Easton Ellis’ first novel Less Than Zero that I lost twice and now that I can’t find that same edition anymore I refuse to buy the new ones. Is there a danger in attaching a sentimental value to the book, turning it into a memorabilia rather than appreciating it for what is inside the covers. An example of this might be the Penguin Classics where George Orwell’s Ninteen Eighty-Four among other classics are depicted on coffee mugs.
TH: Why should we have to consider the cover to be less part of the ‘work’ than the words. Granted the cover has been designed with as much love and passion as can be found in the words inside the book. A good cover not only portays what lies within, but opens up your mind for the world of intrigues, passion and beauty it embraces. It seduces you. So I don’t see any harm in getting attached to a well designed cover. Perhaps some people just are more ‘visually’ oriented than others, but I see no reason to favour one over the other. You could make a similar agreement for for album covers (more for vinyl than cd’s perhaps), or any form of design for that matter.
P: The text of Dave Egger’s novel ‘You Shall Know Our Velocity!’ begins on the book’s cover and continues on the inside front cover. This innovative graphic design confused some booksellers, who returned the book as defective. Do you feel that it is important as a graphic designer to allow and maybe promote this kind of playfulness and a redefining of the norms and rules that we are taught in school and practice?
TH: I’m not a big fan of ‘if you design really bad on purpose, it becomes good design’ just for the sake of it. But no real progress has ever been made by doing the same thing over and over again. So yes, I do believe strongly in experimenting, trying new things, breaking ‘the rules’ and pushing the frontiers. For the place where all the good stuff happens, will not be inside our comfort zone.
P: Do you think that the increased access and exploitation of internet as a source of information and news will have the same effect on the book industry as it has had on the newspaper industry?
TH: Tough one. I used to say ‘there will always be books’, but as I see how publishing and storytelling is evolving into an interactive experience with all these new devices coming up, I instead have to say ‘I hope there will always be printed books’. Perhaps not so many (which would be good for the trees), and hopefully only the good ones. Needless to say that much of todays printed content might just as well be digitalized. But, better than any other medium, good old books give you the chance to really disconnect from this world and reconnect with the world within the covers, and therefor it might just stand the test of time. We’ll just have to wait and see.
P: If e-books and iPads continue to expand as a medium to replace traditionally printed media, what is the book covers role in this scenario. Can you see the cover art moving into a more digital and possibly interactive dimension?
TH: I think it is rather meaningless to make a digital version of a book if you are not willing to consider taking it to the full potential of the device it is being viewed on. So yes, I believe some digital books will become more and more interactive and visually oriented, going far beyond a good static cover followed by lots of words. While others will probably remain just that, or even lose their cover all the same, leaving them out there all naked and fragile. But just as film hasn’t entirely replaced books, nor will the App revolution. Most books will keep their cover, some will even still be printed, while others turn into interactive apps. It’s up to all of us to decide what we like best.
***
Tom Hantjens is part of Belgian design team Beshart and is one of the initiators of Doedemee. He was interview by PAPER collective in May 2011.
Please visit Doedemee's website below to support the project.
Doedemee - 100 Book Covers to Fight Illiteracy
Below is a link to buy PAPER collective's submission for Kazuo Ishiguro's book 'An Artist of the Floating World'.
PAPER collective poster
See the full collection here
Sketch
Final Poster
No comments:
Post a Comment