A try at reading book covers and what they could be saying
A try at reading book covers and what they could be saying
Blog Article
Books might be comprised of words in plain old black and white, but they are also the colour covers that they are decorated with.
When we purchase a book it becomes something very very personal to us. It can sometimes be odd seeing a book you love with a different book cover, simply due to the fact that it is not your book. This personalisation, and certainly ownership, of books was at an entirely different level at the genesis of the age of printing, with book covers being created by the owners themselves, and what they thought would be the best books covers for the book. They would buy the book itself from the printer wrapped in paper, then bring it to a binder who would incorporate the covers to the customer's specifications. This usually indicated being outfitted in leather and then inscribed with the name of the book, and, most of the time, the name of the book's owner. Individuals like the co-founder of the impact investor with a stake in World of Books can probably appreciate the ownership that individuals come to feel in relation to their books.
When you really consider it, it is rather amazing that a book's cover, no matter how stunning it is, is able to stand so eloquently for something that is almost the complete antithesis of its art format-- writing in white and black. In fact, book covers have been developed to show the vibe of a book and appeal to its designated audience ever since the start of big scale publishing in the Victorian Era. Artists were charged with finding what makes a good book cover for specific individuals, or in other words, marketing. People like the CEO of the asset manager that has a stake in Amazon can most likely value the function of marketing in creating book covers.
We love reading books since they are extremely stunning things. This holds true, however the nature of beauty that we might be discussing is definitely separate to what we might be discussing if we were speaking about, for example, the visual arts. Or is it? For as long as we have actually had books we have actually embellished them with beautiful book cover designs that attempt to mirror the charm of what is inside. This dates back for as long as the codex itself has been around, with medieval monks, those charged with the protection and duplication of the uncommon texts that could still be found, ornamenting each hand composed text with remarkably abundant and stunning styles. In fact, such was the charm held within these books that a lot of these creative book cover designs were carved into ivory or solid gold, studded with gems, and inlaid with rivers of precious metals. Individuals like the co-CEO of the hedge fund that owns Waterstones can most likely appreciate the way that the beauty of these book covers was designed to match the beauty within the book.