Pursuant to making print objects, last year I took on a handful of freelance print design projects: four full-length books, two academic reports, a conference program, and an album jacket. I love print design: I love how this work often puts me into a non-verbal trance state, I love the challenge of presenting someone else’s work in the best way possible, and I love how collaborative the design process can (and I think should) be. I rarely feel too possessive of a specific layout, because the final product, when you’re doing it right, has been arrived at mostly through conversation and consensus.
Anyways, I bring this all up to share that I recently found a new and wonderful resource: the ongoing “Best Book Covers” series written by Emily Temple for Literary Hub. Each year she asks about 50 book designers to share their favorite cover designs of the year, and then she ranks them on the basis of which covers were mentioned the most—and she includes the designer-judges’ comments. So much good stuff.
