The Best Book Covers of 2014

The New York Times published the selection of best book covers of 2014, as chosen by the art-director of The New York Times Book Review, Nicholas Blechman.

Nicholas Blechman, illustrator, designer, art-director:

What is the value of a book cover if fewer and fewer people shop at bookstores? I used to browse St. Mark’s Bookshop looking for covers that caught my eye. It was an exciting way to discover new authors, and design played a huge role. Now, one increasingly encounters books through social media or online recommendations, and the role of the designer might, at first glance, seem diminished.

As I look at the inspired creativity on display among the books published in 2014, however, design feels as relevant as ever. I love the fusion of type and illustration for Jeff ­VanderMeer’s Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy; the playfulness of Mariner Books’ Italo Calvino series; the emotional rawness of Dinaw Mengestu’s All Our Names; the mysterious polygon for Your Face in Mine by Jess Row; the vandalized cover of John Beckman’s American Fun; and the nearly complete short-short story on Lydia Davis’s Can’t and Won’t, to mention a few. All these show that book design remains vibrant and essential.

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