Designing Don DeLillo
Monday 14th Mar 2011
Author
Picador |
Monday 14th Mar 2011 02:13
Amazing! Very agit-prop/ futurist. They make the old designs look out-dated already!
Monday 14th Mar 2011 02:30
wow stunning. Really encapsulate the essence of each book with such striking simplicity
Monday 14th Mar 2011 02:55
Simple and effective, the black background with bold colours looks really stylish.
Tuesday 15th Mar 2011 10:36
these look absolutely superb. simple design like this is so very hard to do and also to achieve but these do it. nice, stong colours on black also used.
Tuesday 15th Mar 2011 03:19
These covers are awesome! So retro which is always a good thing! and my husband is a big fan and these would make an amazing gift!
Tuesday 15th Mar 2011 03:24
Those covers are ace! Love them! :)
Tuesday 15th Mar 2011 03:41
These covers are stunning! I am such a fan! Love his writing.
Tuesday 15th Mar 2011 04:18
It looks to me like a well matched pairing of visual impact and literary beauty. I have a good friend, Kathy McMillan, who is a graphic designer and I love her work so much. She's in a class by herself in my view but, these graphics are in also in a class by themselves. I've never seen such striking, beautiful, lovely, powerful and dynamic graphics ever, anywhere! I would love to have the set that's for certain but in whatever eventuality, it has been really great to have come across this series of designs. They are inspirational, sensational and beautiful to a very high degree. Thank you for sharing them!
Tuesday 15th Mar 2011 10:25
Exquisite work - graphic condensations of a core element of each novel, visual distillations. As a big DeLillo fan I'm excited to see these new covers, and the aesthetic continuities they propose. Beautiful job.
Tuesday 15th Mar 2011 10:27
But why no Mao II? Or Libra? Two of the best DeLillo novels ...
Wednesday 16th Mar 2011 11:37
A very good point. The reason is that, alas, for historical reasons, Penguin and Vintage have rights to some of Don's backlist, including these two great books. Very frustrating for us completists!
Wednesday 16th Mar 2011 11:12
love the music note for Great Jones Street. Noma takes a peak at Delillo's book takes a peak at Wunderlick.
Wednesday 16th Mar 2011 11:35
Thanks for all of the comments folks, glad you like the new look!
Friday 18th Mar 2011 02:03
Finally Delillo gets the treatment he deserves. Bravo.
Certainly I've long found his book jackets (both in the UK and the US) rather disappointing, in part because they've passed through the hands of different publishing houses at different times. My collection contains a jumble of photography, montage, illustration and typography amongst which there isn't a single truly magical cover that captures the essence of the book it graces.
What strikes me comparing my battered old paperbacks with this shiny new collection is the extent to which Delillo has been packaged as the chronicler of our weird and threatening times. You can see this most clearly in the Twin Towers photo that jacketed Underworld which is, in my view, absurdly portentous and out of kilter with the experience of reading the book. The fact of 9/11 (prior to which this image was chosen) has nothing to do with my judgment. I say what I do because it's a dark, brooding image that conceptually pits the overweening might of modern capitalism against enduring ancient faiths - a typically chin-stroking visualisation of a novel which richly immerses the reader in the minutiae of individual human foibles, obsessions and speech patterns.
Underworld is also, like many of Delillo's novels, immensely playful. Nowhere is there more true than in the dialogue; while I wouldn't go so far as to claim it as laugh out loud funny, it is impossible not to read certain passages of Delillo without a huge smirk of pleasure over the way his characters talk. For that reason I never understood the scathing reviews Cosmopolis got - were we reading the same book? It's an almost wholly comedic book and one great big riff on American 'big talk'.
So that's what I love about this collection: it dares to push all that stuff about Delillo being the poet of terrorism, technology and dread to one side to deliver a visual language that is every bit as distinctive, colourful and memorable as his prose style. Together, they say: this guy has created an oeuvre which is classic, cinematic and jam-packed with big ideas.
Forgive me if I gush, but writing that last sentence I realise that you have created a collection for Delillo readers rather than his academic fanbase who all too often pigeonhole him within a 'great tradition' of American novelists who tackle big lofty themes. Hats off to you - if you can help shift that perception of him as a deadly serious novelist then you will have done him, and his fans, a great service.
Certainly I've long found his book jackets (both in the UK and the US) rather disappointing, in part because they've passed through the hands of different publishing houses at different times. My collection contains a jumble of photography, montage, illustration and typography amongst which there isn't a single truly magical cover that captures the essence of the book it graces.
What strikes me comparing my battered old paperbacks with this shiny new collection is the extent to which Delillo has been packaged as the chronicler of our weird and threatening times. You can see this most clearly in the Twin Towers photo that jacketed Underworld which is, in my view, absurdly portentous and out of kilter with the experience of reading the book. The fact of 9/11 (prior to which this image was chosen) has nothing to do with my judgment. I say what I do because it's a dark, brooding image that conceptually pits the overweening might of modern capitalism against enduring ancient faiths - a typically chin-stroking visualisation of a novel which richly immerses the reader in the minutiae of individual human foibles, obsessions and speech patterns.
Underworld is also, like many of Delillo's novels, immensely playful. Nowhere is there more true than in the dialogue; while I wouldn't go so far as to claim it as laugh out loud funny, it is impossible not to read certain passages of Delillo without a huge smirk of pleasure over the way his characters talk. For that reason I never understood the scathing reviews Cosmopolis got - were we reading the same book? It's an almost wholly comedic book and one great big riff on American 'big talk'.
So that's what I love about this collection: it dares to push all that stuff about Delillo being the poet of terrorism, technology and dread to one side to deliver a visual language that is every bit as distinctive, colourful and memorable as his prose style. Together, they say: this guy has created an oeuvre which is classic, cinematic and jam-packed with big ideas.
Forgive me if I gush, but writing that last sentence I realise that you have created a collection for Delillo readers rather than his academic fanbase who all too often pigeonhole him within a 'great tradition' of American novelists who tackle big lofty themes. Hats off to you - if you can help shift that perception of him as a deadly serious novelist then you will have done him, and his fans, a great service.
Tuesday 22nd Mar 2011 09:04
Well, they are beautifully designed, certainly, but i can't help thinking they're rather simplistic, as if each of these immensely subtle, complicated and allusive novels can be reduced to a single visual pun - notice how all of these covers basically work through the juxtaposition of two elements (faces and quote marks, radiation and football, musical note and privacy). To reduce a novel to a single visual element is somehow more forgiveable than to reduce it to two. Two implies a dialectical solution to the problem the book poses.
It seems strange, too, that some of them are resolutely abstract (GSJ), some include schematic human figures (The Names, Falling Man) and yet others feature specific and rather wishy-washy aquiline faces (Point Omega, The Body Artist) not to mention the bizarre pink female body of Body Artist. I don't want a face on my DeLillo cover, thank you very much.
I'd have to say, I've got some DeLillo covers I prefer, for example the absolutely beautiful hardback of Point Omega (now *that* would make a great print to hang on the wall), and I'm quite happy thank you with my Body Artist and Underworld (I don't mind the monolithic nature of it, contra Freddie B - though I take his point about the intimate experience of reading the book, there *is* always something overshadowing the text, something portentous and doomy and frankly scary).
And then there's my 1986 Picador paperback of White Noise, covered in doctored video images, and credited to: Russell Mills, 'Imagine' and... Brian Eno! Now, I'd like to hear the story behind that!
It seems strange, too, that some of them are resolutely abstract (GSJ), some include schematic human figures (The Names, Falling Man) and yet others feature specific and rather wishy-washy aquiline faces (Point Omega, The Body Artist) not to mention the bizarre pink female body of Body Artist. I don't want a face on my DeLillo cover, thank you very much.
I'd have to say, I've got some DeLillo covers I prefer, for example the absolutely beautiful hardback of Point Omega (now *that* would make a great print to hang on the wall), and I'm quite happy thank you with my Body Artist and Underworld (I don't mind the monolithic nature of it, contra Freddie B - though I take his point about the intimate experience of reading the book, there *is* always something overshadowing the text, something portentous and doomy and frankly scary).
And then there's my 1986 Picador paperback of White Noise, covered in doctored video images, and credited to: Russell Mills, 'Imagine' and... Brian Eno! Now, I'd like to hear the story behind that!
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 10:05
Brilliant bold images, I find them really strikingand better than the originals.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 01:31
These are really beautiful, and truer to DeLillo's pop-art/genre leanings than previous designs have been. And while each has its own playful character, I love the nearly monochromatic spines. Great job, everyone involved.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 01:55
Excellent covers for an excellent author.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 01:55
Love the simplicity - concepts that not only represent the content, but the author behind the content.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 01:56
I'm sure I will not see a more aesthetically pleasing re-design of titles this year. Contest or not, I'm gonna get these.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 01:56
I like them too-- I'm a big fan of an author's whole run being made cohesive in this way.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:03
They look amazing
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:03
I love the minimalism -- intelligent but not desperately flashy.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:07
Beautiful! Great simple designs.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:10
These are gorgeous! Minimalist, but modern.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:13
These are marvelous images! I like The Names's cover the best; it took me far too long to realize there are faces in those quotations. The sinister face in The Body Artist and the twin towers in Falling Man struck me in the same way. Both of those covers use black space to transform what seems to be the subject -- a dancer, the number 11 -- into something more dynamic. All of them are wonderful, however.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:14
Love the minimalism. They sum up the major themes efficiently.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:24
Sleek and to the point.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:24
I love the new designs, and I think they'd look wonderful on my bookshelf. *fingers crossed*
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:37
They look great. "Running Dog" is served particularly well by its new cover!
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:38
I haven't read a lot of DeLillo (I really need to make time for more), but I've always thought about him as a character-driven writer. I'm chairing a panel at my university's graduate conference next month and one of the papers on the panel is all about the characters; as it's being read, I won't be able to think of anything but the ghostly faces that are hidden in these covers (I like the 2 [maybe 3?] in "Point Omega" the best!).
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:42
lovely and clean.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 02:56
I've always had a preference for cover art like this... I like the text-based and/or minimalist cover design, and while i hate to admit it, it does affect my purchasing habits.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:08
They seem to better reflect DeLillo's haunting, sharp-edged prose. "Falling Man" is my favorite design. I picked up an original copy of "Running Dog" at a library sale many moons ago. The art on the reissued "Running Dog" does a great job of mixing film and Nazi iconography. And the film strip looks like an open-mouthed scream. Clever.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:09
I've never read DeLillo, but I think some of these covers might get me to open one of the books. Love the Falling Man one.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:24
Awesome! my favorite has to be Underworld because of the connotaion of the pitcher with the ball behind his back getting ready to throw a curved one
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:43
I love the covers. They're bold, forceful, yet simple. I'm not sure I get White Noise and Great Jones Street though. By the way, where's Mao II, Americana, Ratner's Star, Libra and PLayers? I'd LOVE to see your take on those.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:49
Hi 'grebmops' just to let you know the reason is that, for historical reasons, Penguin and Vintage have rights to some of Don's backlist, including these books, so they are not published by ourselves.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:45
The covers are excellent. Their starkness complements DeLillo's writing very well.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:50
Conveys the essence of the book in a single image.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:50
I just love how ubiquitous and multifaceted so many of the covers are. There's an image formed from the color that's there and in what's not there. For example the face in "The Body Artist" cover, the heads peering out in "The Names" or that line of definition in "Cosmopolis" that gives shape to the car. Keep up the great work!
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:52
Very jazz age. beatnicky. makes me want to say "weirdos" and "daddy-o."
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:52
Love the designs. Crisp and clean. Are you going to do new covers for Mao II and Libra?
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:55
Very spare and symbolic, sometimes edged with the silhouette of lurking menace (as in 'Underworld' and 'White Noise'). The face profiles in 'The Names', 'The Body Artist', and 'Point Omega' are also effective.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 03:58
I can imagine the meetings involved with these. Words thrown around: BOLD. STRIKING. SIMPLE. etc. All kidding aside, they look nice. The biggest improvement is Underworld-- the old cityscape cover was completely useless.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 04:28
I like the White Noise cover the best. Although all the covers are lovely and definitely make me want to read the DeLillo back list!
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 04:29
That Falling Man cover is just stunning! Great work.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 04:32
Looks sharp. Nice, simple, elegant. I need to read more DeLillo.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 04:40
The covers look like what's in the books, but condensed into little pictures. For this the design team must be lauded.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 04:44
Very nice look all around!
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 04:51
Rather bland minimalist covers. I would rather see what Saul Bass would have done if this was the direction you were going. The cover of White Noise looks like it would be a Rhapsody.com logo.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 04:53
Perfectly Pink Panther-esque.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 05:40
I've got mixed feelings on the whole project. While I do like a lot of the designs, I don't imagine they'll displace some of the original designs (Underworld, White Noise, even the limo from Cosmopolis) in my mind. Further, redesigning all ten of the titles almost suggests a thematic unity between the various titles that, really, I don't think is there.
Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind after a few years of seeing these in bookstores.
Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind after a few years of seeing these in bookstores.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 05:40
Beautiful minimalistic covers. Great job, It's Nice That/Noma Bar/Picador.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 06:20
Although I think the covers are striking, and I completely understand the savvy marketing that encourages buyers to purchase an entire set for the sake of completeness, the design is so dominant, and so contemporary as of this very moment that I cannot help but wonder how the covers will be regarded even next year.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 06:30
This seems just right, though it's tough to beat the original Underworld Cover. I don't know enough about marketing to know if this will draw in new readers to DD, but for fans it's really nice to see visual interpretations of the themes and ideas in the books.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 07:00
Cool, crisp minimalism…. nothing beats it.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 07:40
What I like best about these covers is how they add to the experience of the book, yet stand on their own as art.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 07:41
Very nice: striking, sleek, bold colors. Love it!
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 08:28
What strikes me most about the originality of these covers is how they don't look like any other book series out there; much like the works of the author himself. I'm curious to know if the interiors have been reset as well?
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 09:27
Sleek logos, icons, signs and symbols. I dig~ not sure I get the one for White Noise exactly, but the series is striking.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 09:30
It's quite refreshing to see a designer who has not only read the novels, but also captures their essence so beautifully. Well done.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 09:33
Love the uniform look to the books. Some of the covers I respond to more than others -- "White Noise," "The Names," "The Body Artist," "Falling Man." The rest I respond to in varying degrees, running from "interesting" to kind of "well..." Nevertheless, I think taken as a whole sweep it's an excellent concept well-executed. Wish they'd do it for more authors.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 11:56
Love these covers, really makes me want to purchase the whole set. Love the bold designs, simple clean lines, and bright colours.
Wednesday 23rd Mar 2011 11:59
Very sharp. Having only read a few of these, the new designs have me interested in reading more of DeLillo's back list.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 12:04
Excellent take on a postmodern heavyweight.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 12:30
These are, for the most part, extraordinary. I think "White Noise" and "Underworld" could have gone through a couple more iterations, but I'm genuinely surprised and amazed at how cleverly each cover image creates two images within such a clean, black background. The "Falling Man" is particularly brilliant. Bravo!
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 12:40
I like the two toned minimalism. Makes me wanna read 'em, all again (even though I have 'em all). Jeesh!
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 12:42
I love these designs. I love the black+white+[unique color] scheme.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 12:58
Total noir.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 03:26
Looks swell as a set, and anything to revive interest in DeLillo's backlist is a plus.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 03:29
Dark minimal stuff. Really dig the one for End Zone, and Underworld.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 04:02
"End Zone" - The Quarterback says 'I am become death...'
"Great Jones Street" - Music and light fills a darkened room.
"Running Dog" - A single frame and a secret.
"The Names" - 'Reality is one of the few words which mean nothing without quotes', says Nabokov.
"White Noise" - Panasonic redemption.
"Underworld" - Within the Buddha's grip, a baseball.
"The Body Artist" - Her body reclines over him.
"Cosmopolis" - To take his mind off work he went for a drive.
"Falling Man" - At this point he realized that he was a fallen man.
"Point Omega" - The lizard warms itself before the desert night begins.
"Great Jones Street" - Music and light fills a darkened room.
"Running Dog" - A single frame and a secret.
"The Names" - 'Reality is one of the few words which mean nothing without quotes', says Nabokov.
"White Noise" - Panasonic redemption.
"Underworld" - Within the Buddha's grip, a baseball.
"The Body Artist" - Her body reclines over him.
"Cosmopolis" - To take his mind off work he went for a drive.
"Falling Man" - At this point he realized that he was a fallen man.
"Point Omega" - The lizard warms itself before the desert night begins.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 05:58
They all look great, especially like White Noise.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 10:29
If you're buying the book there's no reason not judge it by its cover and these look fantastic.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 02:48
They look great! White Noise, End Zone and Falling Man are the most effective, for me. However, all 10 of them would look really fantastic on my bookshelf :)
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 04:27
I'm about 60% through Underworld as I write this, and I love the new cover. The Bobby Thompson baseball is weaved through the narrative, and makes the perfect image to capture the mood of the novel.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 06:27
The designs have an exactitude to them that is consoling- that is, a sort of Post-It Note quality which invites one to condense their messy plans here or, in the case of the books, to put ones hectic mind into this story
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 07:06
I don't own a kindle because I'm the kind of person who still salivates over a physical copy of a well-designed book. These covers are definitely eliciting that response.
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 09:36
I love the End Zone and the Body Artist covers. Great, great job. Why can't every book cover be as well designed as these?
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 10:03
I love the minimalist covers. Really nice!
Thursday 24th Mar 2011 11:01
These are fantastic!
Friday 25th Mar 2011 01:32
Beautiful. Reminiscent of Saul Bass's animated title sequences which I have always loved.
Friday 25th Mar 2011 02:52
These are really great. They had to grow on me a little, but now I'm definitely a fan.
Friday 25th Mar 2011 03:04
The Names is my favorite Dellilo and the cover fits the elegance of the novel. Big question though: when are these going to be available??????
Friday 25th Mar 2011 09:45
Hi Grant, the books are out in the UK now, available from all good retailers and panmacmillan.com.
Friday 25th Mar 2011 08:02
Great! Bold and striking.
Friday 25th Mar 2011 09:09
Beautiful
Friday 25th Mar 2011 10:57
I love these covers, visually incisive and subtly sinister.
Saturday 26th Mar 2011 03:15
I think they are IRADOS! (it's a very positive portuguese expression for things).
Saturday 26th Mar 2011 04:35
Beautiful minimalist designs. I like black as a base color and, of course, that they make a fine set.
Saturday 26th Mar 2011 04:25
Quite elegant: the unity of design offers up a good reason to collect them all...
-Manuel Cabrera
-Manuel Cabrera
Saturday 26th Mar 2011 05:16
Heavy, intense, much like the works.
Saturday 26th Mar 2011 06:16
I love when conflict is so subtle it's at the edge of the page, hovering and not direct. Each of these covers yields to such conflict- the war tones of college football for Endzone, what looks to be corners in a Nazi flag for Running Dog, a tombstone for White Noise, hidden portraits for both The Body Artist and Poinbt Omega, these are outstanding.
Sunday 27th Mar 2011 05:35
These look fantastic. An ambitious project, to say the least. Nice to see a unifying design...my own DeLillo collection is an unruly mishmash of publishers and cover designs. I've never thought of distilling DeDillo's work/philosophy down to one image; the illustrators had their work cut out for them, but came up with some beautiful ideas.
Monday 28th Mar 2011 09:39
These are elegant, restrained without the excessive austerity minimalism often succumbs to. These covers portray the atmospheres DeLillo weaves by working with his most effective symbols. Uncanny like the man's best sentences, ominous like the scenes he embeds in your memory.
Tuesday 29th Mar 2011 05:02
Beautiful covers. I loaned my copy of The Body Artist to a friend a few years ago. Her dog chewed it to pieces... and I've been meaning to buy a new copy ever since. Now I'm glad I waited.
Wednesday 30th Mar 2011 06:41
The colors and designs are Brilliant! I cannot wait to see them in "real life"! I keep thinking I prefer one to the others and then change my mind again. Ha!
Tuesday 7th Jun 2011 04:42
When you stumble across an icon, and I believe that most people still come to Delillo with the delight of an icon-stumbling archeaologist, it will be refreshing for those who have not known of his greatness to find the varied work huddled together under such a modernist, unifying frontispiece as these images, Art Deco done with a cleaver. What is fascinating about the visuals here is this: they are as spare as his ethos is to elaborate the microbeats within human interaction, and yet as stern as his sentences' look and cadence.
Thursday 26th Jan 2012 12:40
I really like these. I only just discovered DeLillo and am now buying up as many of these wonderful covers as I can to have the whole set!
Friday 24th Feb 2012 10:39
Bold and impressive, these covers each eye catching in their own right. Together they are a quite a collection. Stunning.
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