Jackets Required: Spoiled and The Flying Troutmans

By Fwis -- Publishers Weekly, 11/25/2008 11:00:00 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 recent books by their covers each week on PublishersWeekly.com. 

Title: Spoiled: Stories
Designer: Catherine Casalino
Author: Caitlin Macy
Publisher: Random House 

Title: The Flying Troutmans
Designer:Gerilyn Attebery
Author: Miriam Toews
Publisher: Counterpoint

Sometimes only a thin line exists between inspiration and imitation. Designers are constantly borrowing from various sources of visual information and ideas. A designer quickly learns that in an art form made up of cultural semiotics, it can be a small world when it comes to symbols and meanings.

Occasionally, you get a case where two designers use exactly the same symbol. (The release dates of these books are too close for one to argue that one design was public before the other was conceived.) What makes a case like this so interesting is that you can see how the design details of these covers—both using the same photograph— can alter meaning.

The design of Caitlin Macy's Spoiled is as subtle as it is smart. "Spoiled," an ugly word itself, is spelled out in ornamented and beautiful type; the photo of a spoiled girl (as the title suggests) next to a crystal chandelier creates a dual juxtaposition that is well-conceived and executed.

The cover Miriam Toews's The Flying Troutmans offers an entirely different—and less interesting—interpretation. The wonky typography was probably inspired by the attention-deficient story that critics compare to Little Miss Sunshine with more quirk and awkwardness. The picture probably references Hattie, the main character burdened with post-break up depression and the care of her niece and nephew after her sister is readmitted to the Psyche Ward. The designer's interpretation of this cover is fitting, but less interesting. For a story this bizarre, a less straight-forward interpretation would have done it justice.

With the volume of books being published, it is not unheard of that two covers unknowingly use the same stock image or similar type treatments. But a case like this can show us how two designers come up with completely different solutions and interpretations. What makes the Caitlin Macy cover more interesting is the designer's use of type and image; it's intelligent. The type and image carry so much more power together than they do apart.