Jackets Required: Loving Frank

By Fwis -- Publishers Weekly, 8/7/2007 3:00:00 AM

This is the latest installment in a weekly column by Fwis, a graphic design group that blogs on book jacket design. The Fwis designers judge a recent book by its cover each week on PublishersWeekly.com.



Title: Loving Frank: A Novel

Author: Nancy Horan

Publisher: Ballantine

There is no shortage of aesthetic and emotional material surrounding the life of one of modernism's most criticized, scandalized, over-the-top architects. Frank Lloyd Wright defined an era, with the Arts & Crafts movement finding its soul in his buildings, homes, furniture, color pallets and even typography. This novelization of the life of his lover, Mamah Borthwick Cheney, is filled with controversy and scandal--all capped by her tragic demise. In such an emotional and visual story, the cover treatment is as cliché as it is poorly considered. There is much available imagery of Wright's creations that could have given the cover a much more distinctive, eye-catching appeal, and he himself designed several interesting and rarely-used typefaces. But the type is entirely incorrect for the era, which wouldn't normally be a concern except that it clearly is trying to mesh with the photo of the stained glass behind it. The photo of Mamah--or her supposed likeness--is suspiciously Photoshopped, and overly dark for a rather compelling tale of a feminist and intellectual of her times.