Giles Hoover

Photography and design for print production

Category: Art

All art forms — too many to list — that don’t include photography, although there is often overlap.

  • Beautifully Briefed 25.9: Generous

    Beautifully Briefed 25.9: Generous

    It’s fontastic, illustrative, and full of imagery: your beginning-of-fall design round-up here on Foreword. (And A.I., because it’s everywhere.) Enjoy.

    This month on Spine

    A fun and interesting University Press Coverage post on Spine when you have a moment, including this title from the University of Nebraska:

    That was not a simple photograph to set up. Awesome.

    Generative Book Cover Design

    How 2 Shout Media presents a how-to: 20 cover design prompts for ChatGPT. “Creating the perfect book cover starts with the right vision — and that’s where ChatGPT transforms from a writing assistant into your creative design partner.” (Emphasis theirs.)

    There are, for instance, specifics on “the anatomy of an effective prompt” and how to customize the provided templates; they even provide bonus templates to save and reuse, including one to quickly iterate on previous output.

    The article contains some good advice, honestly, but the most relevant suggestion — to “[t]hink of ChatGPT as [a] creative director who provides vision and direction rather than final artwork” — is buried at the bottom of a fairly long page. I’m willing to get there are more than a few (especially in the self-publishing space) who read this as the definitive how-to . . . possibly without judging the output versus what a professional can create.

    This cover sample is far and away the best of the eight illustrated options:

    The prompt: “Design a literary fiction cover for ‘[Title]’ using a single continuous brushstroke that forms both an abstract landscape and a human profile when viewed differently—an optical illusion revealing loneliness and connection. Executed in indigo ink wash on cream paper texture. The brushstroke starts thick and confident, becoming increasingly fragmented and uncertain. Minimal color palette: indigo, cream, with one tiny spot of cadmium red as a focal point (perhaps a bird or flower). Title integrated into the negative space using a classic Garamond variant, appearing to be part of the original artwork. Author name in small, understated caps at bottom. Overall feeling: wistful, sophisticated, gallery-worthy.”

    Take a moment to compare the output with the prompt, and you’ll see the generated output ignores several of the items, but overall, is kinda — sorta — close.

    The other examples not so much. But I’m not going to spoil the whole thing: Go and see for yourself.

    For now, I’d suggest that book design professionals — those that make a living from the art and science that is publishing excellence — are safe. Other professionals in the industry recognize what talent is and how valuable it is, and the designers themselves can take advantage of the power that some of these models offer to help brainstorm.

    That said, today’s A.I. models are gaining quality at a rapid rate. In 5–10 years, at most, publishers (and authors self-publishing) that might not recognize that they’re best served by professionals — or those who don’t have the budget, despite the recognition — will have access to what might very well be “good enough.”

    From Your Intelligence to Artificial Intelligence

    So, where do the A.I. engines get their training material? From you and yours, of course; to quote a source we’ll get to in a moment, “[i]n writing this […] I am acutely aware it will become part of a training data set.” Some sites, such as Wikipedia and the Internet Archive, have seen an exponential upswing in traffic — all from the so-called “bots,” programs sweeping internet content into the never-satisfied regurgitation chamber that is today’s ChatGPT, Claude, and others.1One of the reasons my photography, as presented both here on Foreword and in the galleries, is both relatively lo-res and watermarked is to preserve a sense of ownership; likewise, one of the (many) reasons I no longer participate in social media is due to posts specifically being used to train A.I. — Instagram/Meta, for instance.

    Ars Technica and Pixel Envy both highlight a new program, modeled on Really Simple Syndication (RSS), designed to “block bots that don’t fairly compensate creators for content.”

    To quote Doug Leeds, the founder, “A.I. companies know that they need a constant stream of fresh content to keep their tools relevant and to continually innovate.” The “Really Simple Licensing” (RSL) standard evolves robots.txt instructions by adding an automated licensing layer that’s designed to block bots that don’t fairly compensate creators for content.

    Free for any publisher to use starting today, the RSL standard is an open, decentralized protocol that makes clear to AI crawlers and agents the terms for licensing, usage, and compensation of any content used to train A.I[.]
    The new standard supports “a range of licensing, usage, and royalty models, including free, attribution, subscription, pay-per-crawl (publishers get compensated every time an AI application crawls their content), and pay-per-inference (publishers get compensated every time an AI application uses their content to generate a response).”

    — RSL Press Release

    But — and it’s a big “but” — RSL is only one response to the problem. Another is to wall content off entirely, breaking one of the most valuable qualities of the internet itself: its openness.

    We’re watching the construction of a fundamentally different internet, one where access is controlled by gatekeepers and paywalls rather than governed by open protocols and user choice. And we’re doing it in the name of stopping AI companies, even though the real result will be to concentrate even more power in the hands of those same large tech companies while making the internet less useful for everyone else.

    — Mike Mesnick, TechDirt

    Here’s where Pixel Envy agrees:

    A.I. organizations have not created a bottom-up rebellious exploration of the limits of intellectual property law. They are big businesses with deep pockets exploiting decades of news, blogging, photography, video, and art. Nobody, as near as makes no difference, expected something they published online would one day feed the machines that now produce personalized Facebook slop.

    — Nick Heer, Pixel Envy

    “One thing that might help, not suggested by Masnick, is improving the controls available to publishers,” Heer writes, going on to discuss the new RSL standard proposal and what it might do to help. But, in the end, he’s not optimistic:

    I simply do not know how much control I reclaim now will be relevant in the future, and I am sure the same is true of any real media organization. I write here for you, not for the benefit of building the machines producing a firehose of spam, scams, and slop. The artificial intelligence companies have already violated the expectations of even a public web. Regardless of the benefits they have created — and I do believe there are benefits to these technologies — they have behaved unethically. Defensive action is the only control a publisher can assume right now.

    — Nick Heer, Pixel Envy

    Yeah.

    Special bonus #1: From the you’ve-trained-it-so-enjoy-A.I.-for-fun department,Kottke introduces us to generativ.design. “I wore out the “randomize” button on each of these,” he writes. (Via the new-to-me sidebar.)

    Prefab Design

    Meet fabricá, a new hair care company, whose identity ticks all the boxes: it’s trendy, eco-friendly, and well put-together:

    But there’s a catch: fabricá doesn’t exist — at least not yet. It’s a fully-formed identity, available now at Brands Like These, a new prefab identity outfit from Lyon&Lyon.

    Now I’ll admit: at first, this seemed like a Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe thing,2Yes, I grew up listening to Car Talk. something that we all had a chuckle over before allowing it to shuffle into the background, readily available for use as a pithy line whenever we needed it: “Ha, we got Lyin’ and Lyin’ selling your precious startup canned … stuff.”

    Unfortunately, it’s not a joke.

    When Elizabeth Goodspeed, of It’s Nice That, got thinking about it, she had lots to say. “In a good design engagement, the back-and-forth between company and designer pushes the company itself to sharpen what it is; the ‘friction’ people complain about is also the juice that makes the work exciting.” (I find this true in editorial and publishing work, certainly.) But there’s a warning, too:

    If this cart-before-horse approach takes hold, it won’t just change how companies buy branding, but how designers make it. The skills a designer needs shift from listening and refining to cranking out polished shells that could plausibly fit anything. […] Even if sites like BLT only sell a brand once, the more ambiguous the design, the more it risks echoing a dozen others (and collapsing under trend fatigue).

    These models also threaten to hollow out the middle of the industry. We’ve seen this pattern before: bookstores went from indie shops and regional chains to Amazon or your local holdout; music from affordable CDs to either $50 LPs or all-you-can-stream. Branding may be headed for the same split – prefab kits at the low end, ultra-expensive bespoke at the high end, and little in between. And if prefab becomes the norm, it’s hard not to imagine the next step: why should these kits even be designed by humans? Once clients are trained to buy a look off the shelf, there’s little stopping A.I. from flooding the market with pre-packaged “brands” generated at scale.

    — Elizabeth Goodspeed, It’s Nice That

    This feels like an accurate prediction. Read the rest. (See also: her item on copyright, covered in February.)

    Okay, we’ve dealt with the heavy stuff. Let’s enjoy the rest.

    The New Type in Town

    Several articles to point to if you’re interested in expanding your font collection — including 50 predictions for what’ll be popular 2026. Nice.

    Steven Heller’s Font of the Month

    Over at I Love Typography, industry veteran and designer extraordinaire Steven Heller’s monthly column exalts Ritualist.

    CreativeBoom’s Best o’ September

    They have several, but my favorite is not dissimilar to the above, a new face called Urbolyt, a variable “that represents a clash between geometric rigor and organic forms.”

    Zelow Studio’s Nature

    Pixel Surplus brings us a new — and free! — variable grotesk typeface called Nature, available in a variety of styles.

    CreativeBoom’s 50 for 2026

    The vast majority of these are, basically, Helvetica; like Nature, the simple sans serifs are what’s in right now. (Sigh.) However, there are some gems on the list, and I’d like to take a moment to highlight an absolute favorite: Freight.

    Freight is a collection of integrated typefaces ready to add unique style to any design project. What Joshua Darden started as a serif family inspired by the warmth and pragmatism found in 18th-century Dutch typefaces became The Freight Collection and now ranges across multiple weights, widths, and optical sizes — from Big to Display, Text, Micro, Macro, Sans, Neo, and Round — all of which include companion italics. That’s 192 fonts that have the ability to be bold and daring just as easily as they can be quiet and unassuming.

    — freightcollection.com

    I’ve used Freight in a variety of book projects and the breadth of options available always satisfies. It’s referred to as a superfamily: from the standard Text and beyond-excellent Neo (a sans with style), there’s an option for going Big and even two — Micro and Macro — best used at small sizes (readable footnotes!).

    I cannot recommend more highly. Indeed, I could only take one font family with me to a desert island, I’d take Freight.

    Illustrations Open Doors
    Illustration Awards 2025

    CreativeBoom: “From playful packaging to poignant explorations of identity, the World Illustration Awards 2025 showcase the breadth of contemporary illustration. With over 4,700 entries from 85 countries, this year’s winners reveal how artists are shaping how we see, think and connect.”

    One of the overall winners is this great poster:

    Léane Ruggli – RTD’s Cocktail Campaign

    Book covers (adult and children’s):

    Jennifer Dionisio – The Talented Mr Ripley
    Jenya Polosina – The Country of the Blind
    Camila Carrossine – The Girl, the Ghost and the Beetroot Forest

    Site Specific:

    Ren Kyles – Pride mural in Wilsonville, Oregon

    The awards underline “how illustration continues to thrive as a medium of both beauty and urgency”: from packaging that delights to books that challenge taboos, the winning works reveal the versatility of illustrators working today.

    See the whole list of winners and commended artists at the WIA 2025 Online Showcase, including interviews and insights into their creative process.

    Illustration for Branding

    Another CreativeBoom article suggests that, “[f]rom murals to motion, illustration is starting to reassert itself in advertising,” because “illustration still offers unique advantages. Distinctiveness is the obvious one because, in a sea of photography-led campaigns, an illustrated execution can […] cut through precisely because they are unexpected.”

    As this great TfL poster exemplifies:

    “A Riot of Color and Joy”

    Yet another example of illustration done well, this time from — wait for it — 1956:

    A Saab 93 full-car cutaway.

    I still miss Saab. See more at The Autopian.

    Special Bonus #2: These minimalist cat illustrations define brilliant:

    Illustration by ShouXin.
    September’s Photography Highlights
    International Pet Photography Awards

    While we’re on the subject of cats — and dogs, whose entries far outstripped those for cats (and horses, rabbits, pigs, and all the other things folks keep for pets) — this year’s pet photography contest has some pretty spectacular results:

    Photograph by Mirka Koot.
    Photograph by Shandess Griffin.
    Photograph by Janneke De Graaf.

    Getting my dog to stand still long enough for a photograph is nigh-on impossible; some of the accomplishments shown in these winning photographs are fantastic. Kudos.

    Special bonus #3: Cats, book matched.

    Audubon Photography Awards

    The 15 winning entries for 2025 have been announced, including this one:

    “Burrowing Owl.” Photograph by Jean Hall.

    See more at PetaPixel or This is Colossal; explore galleries of this year’s winners and honorable mentions, or grab a copy of the Fall 2025 Audubon Magazine.

    Astronomy Photographer of the Year

    This is Colossal: “The universe’s workings may always remain a mystery. So it’s no surprise that when peering up at the night sky, whether it’s homing in on distant stellar clusters or simply watching the moon rise, photography helps us appreciate its enigmatic beauty.”

    “ISS Lunar Flyby.” Photograph by Tom Williams.
    “Saturnrise.” Photograph by Tom Williams.

    I didn’t realize until after I’d selected them that these were both from the same photographer, but unlike some that are just (amazing) night sky, these have an almost-science-fiction quality.

    ’Course, that’s only the tip of the iceberg: “The Royal Observatory Greenwich’s ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year 17 contest showcases the best astronomical and night sky images of the year, captured by exceptional photographers worldwide,” writes PetaPixel.

    Two more that aren’t quite what you expect:

    “Encounter Across Light-Years.” Photograph by Yurui Gong and Xizhen Ruan.
    “Fourth Dimension.” Photograph by Leonardo Di Maggio.

    See the more winners, from here and beyond, at PetaPixel or This is Colossal.

    Special bonus #4: While we’re on the subject of Earth and sky, PetaPixel profiles Italian photographer Gianluca Rubinacci:

    Photograph by Gianluca Rubinacci.

    Special bonus #5: The UK’s Weather Photographer of the Year 2025 Competition list of finalists has been announced, including this one:

    Photograph by Lukáš Gallo.

    See all of ’em — and vote (until October 16th) — here.

    Natural Landscape Photography Awards

    This one’s a little different, in that there can be no generative AI, no compositing of different photographs, and RAW files are checked by judges to ensure authenticity. (Refreshing, honestly.) “The competition is designed to promote photographers looking to work within the constraints of the natural landscape and traditional bounds of photography.”

    From the Project of the Year, Sápmi (Lapland). Photograph by Hanneke Van Camp.

    See more at Petapixel, or to see all of the contestants head to the Natural Landscape Photography Awards website.

    “Cyberpunk” and “Gotham” vs. “Otherworldly” and “Forgotten”

    To close out this month, I’d like to mention a couple more book projects. Let’s start with Ben Moore, whose new photo book is titled Above & Across London. As the name suggests, he found high-up vantage spots: “I’ve always loved the look of a cool, urban, cyber-futuristic world, and at times I catch glimpses of that in London,” he writes.

    Photograph by Ben Moore.

    Meanwhile, photographer Bryan Sansivero feels a strong pull to document and explore forgotten dwellings; his new book, America the Abandoned, explores deserted homes around the country in 200 striking images — including this one:

    “The Grand Room.” Photograph by Bryan Sansivero.

    Have a great October, everyone.

    • 1
      One of the reasons my photography, as presented both here on Foreword and in the galleries, is both relatively lo-res and watermarked is to preserve a sense of ownership; likewise, one of the (many) reasons I no longer participate in social media is due to posts specifically being used to train A.I. — Instagram/Meta, for instance. ↩︎
    • 2
  • Beautifully Briefed 25.8: Calming, Hopefully

    Beautifully Briefed 25.8: Calming, Hopefully

    Type opens up, the best designer you’ve never heard of, and photography to admire and inspire: all this and more for your August edification and enjoyment.

    August University Press Coverage on Spine

    Rather than show my favorite this month, I thought I’d share four of the runners up:

    My favorite of the covers not in the Spine post.

    Clockwise from upper left: Duke University Press, Mercer University Press, and two from the University of Washington. These are all good, but just missed being in the post because another option offered a better design — or story.

    I’m highlighting these to celebrate the strong design in university work; despite limited budgets — or whatever other, shall we say, challenges universities face these days — most have realized that great design is worth the extra. Long live the University Press!

    See the rest at Spine.

    Fontastically usable

    BrandNew points us at a little treasure posted by Smith and Diction: an expert’s take on which among the Google fonts are worth it, helpfully organized by category. Check it out.

    FYI, it’s at Figma, a site I’d heard of but not interacted with (it’s aimed at the collaborative market, aka “teams”); it took me a minute to orient myself. (Use the zoom in the upper right, then drag.)

    In the comments at BrandNew, several folks point to the two Typewolf lists on the subject, one for Google and one for Adobe/Typekit. (Interestingly, I was not familiar with Typewolf — it was good enough to earn an instant bookmark. Stay tuned for more from them.)

    That was on the 7th. On the 8th, BrandNew linked to a Google Design article on “the benefits of brands — for the brands and for users — making their proprietary typefaces open source and available to all to use, modify, and tinker with.” Google Fonts currently has 17 of them.

    Lastly, on the 15th: Keep Calm and Icon. “Bettina Reinemann, Staff Experience Designer, Brand & Icons, at Adobe, offers an interesting and comprehensive deep dive into the evolution of a handful of Adobe’s most iconic, well, icons and how they have changed over the decades in style, meaning, and depiction.”

    BrandNew is subscription, yes, but it’s one of the web’s subscription bargains at less than $25/year and packed with great stuff. I do wish they’d offer a free article or two within a given period of time so new folks can sample before purchasing, but that criticism aside, I can’t recommend them highly enough.

    Many Thanks to … Double-Oh Who?

    Joe Caroff, designer of so many things yet a so completely unknown personality, died on the 17th — one day short of his 104th (!) birthday. The Guardian has a nice obit … with this graphic:

    The 2015 film by Sam Mendes, the 24th James Bond adventure.

    That’s right, he’s the guy who designed that logo. John Gruber, at Daring Fireball, has a nice discussion of the logo and, specifically, its subtle evolution within the Bond franchise. (Did you know it was initially created for use on letterhead? Wow.)

    He also links to a bunch of Bond one-sheet posters, a couple of which I’d like to post:

    The 1962 film by Terence Young, and
    The 1987 film by John Glen, the 15th.

    I’m of the age to have grown up with Roger Moore, and really liked Timothy Dalton’s first film — it’s a shame it crashed and burned with the second — whose portrayal of the character has an edge you don’t see again until Daniel Craig stepped into the role.

    But I digress. Joe Caroff’s poster history covers some greats, including this one:

    Original 1961 U.S. one sheet poster by Joe Caroff.

    But it’s a tidbit on the Wiki entry that warrants my publicly spending a minute remembering Joe Caroff: he designed the original jacket for Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead:

    Jacket design by Joe Caroff. Photograph courtesy of The Norman Mailer Society.

    When I had the privilege of redesigning The Mailer Review in 2017, the first cover paid homage to the above design:

    The illustration is a self-portrait by Norman Mailer. (See Wikipedia for the old design.)

    Read more about Joe Caroff’s many accomplishments at Print (spoiler: Steven Heller hadn’t heard of him before 2016!) or DesignWeek.

    And Now For Something Completely … Wait.

    A quick drive-by here: this is a Buick.

    It’s quite literally out of this world: the Electra Orbit Concept is only for the Chinese market — their biggest. The interior, especially, has more than a few overtones of the Jaguar Type 00 concept. (Which is looking more and more prescient, frankly; see previous coverage.) Read more at Motor1 or the Autopian.

    “Sedans are dead,” someone said. Hmph.
    August’s Photography Faves
    100 Years of the Leica 1
    1925’s Leica 1, the world’s first mass-produced 35mm camera.

    PetaPixel has a nice piece covering all of the many ways the Leica 1 — the first from “a tiny German camera company” — has had such an outsized influence on the huge world that is photography today.

    The 2025 M11 New York Edition. You can absolutely see the family resemblance.
    2025 iPhone Photography Awards

    It’s time for the annual iPhone Photography Awards — along with my annual observation that the camera you have with you is the most powerful of all. And since a substantial percentage of the world carries an iPhone, the possibilities are nearly endless.

    PetaPixel has a round up of the winners, but it’s the honorable mentions I’d like to highlight:

    Architecture: Photograph by Adrian Beasley, United Kingdom.
    Architecture: Photograph by Vladyslav Vasylkevych, Ukraine.
    Cityscapes: A second from Adrian Beasley, United Kingdom. (I didn’t see that until after I’d selected ones to post — and decided to post it anyway.)

    Okay, one photograph that placed (2nd):

    The famed “Other” category: Dominic Martín Dähncke, Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain).

    See many, many more — nearly all fantastic — at the IPPAwards website: 2025 iPhone Photography Awards Announces Winners of Its 18th Annual Competition.

    Special Bonus #1: “Perhaps no building in the world captures the early 20th-century art deco movement quite like the Chrysler Building, which has been an iconic fixture in the Manhattan skyline since 1930. Its grace and beauty have captivated photographers for decades. For one NYC shooter, the building has become his life’s work. Mitchell Funk has been photographing the Chrysler Building for 50 years; his images are vibrant, eye-catching, and extremely creative.”

    2025 Ocean Photographer of the Year Awards, and Prints for Wildlife

    “Fragility, beauty, and urgency characterize” this competition, with “an emphasis on ocean conservation and the outsize influence humans have on marine life,” This is Colossal says. (More at PetaPixel, too.)

    From the Adventure category: photograph by Ben Thouard.
    Human Connections: photograph by Jianping Li.
    Impact: photograph by Henley Spiers.

    On that last one: “This green turtle was killed by a boat strike, an unnatural and unnecessary death for an endangered species,” says photographer Henley Spiers. “Only recently deceased, it is partly decomposed, with the haunting view of the bare skull in contrast to the skin, which remains on the rest of its body, and the juvenile fish which have adopted the turtle carcass as a form of safe refuge. We came across this turtle by chance, a dispiriting sight at the end of a long and fruitless day at sea. I can only hope that this image acts as a reminder of the enormous human burden placed on turtles and the ocean as a whole.”

    It had the intended effect. Impact, indeed.

    So, you might ask: how can I help? Prints for Wildlife is one way.

    “Lifeboat,” Alaska. Photograph by Casey Cooper. (Sold out, alas.)

    “In 2025, the crisis isn’t a virus — it’s a withdrawal of critical funding for wildlife and conservation,” says program co-founder Pie Aerts. “Prints for Wildlife is more than a fundraiser; it’s a platform for connection, consciousness and hope in a time of crisis.” Browse photos by more than 200 photographers on the fundraiser’s website. The limited-edition prints will be available until September 21.

    “Caracal,” Tanzania. Photograph by Elena Didevska.

    Special Bonus #2: “The Natural History Museum in London unveiled a first look at 15 of the breathtaking photos that are in the running to win the 61st Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, including a lion staring down a cobra, a pack of Arctic wolves, and bats flying through the dark toward the camera; the 2025 Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest attracted 60,636 total entries, the most ever in the contest’s illustrious history.”

    2025 Capture the Dark Sky Contest

    DarkSky International announced the winners of its fifth annual Capture the Dark photography contest. Winners across eight main categories showcase the best in astrophotography and demonstrate why it is vital to protect dark skies worldwide; PetaPixel has a nice roundup.

    In other words, I’m not going to let you go enjoy your Labor Day weekend (here in the US, at least) without once again closing with a photograph of two of my favorite things: lupines against a beautiful night sky.

    “Celestial Dance over Lupine Fields,” New Zealand. Photograph by Lucy Yunxi Hu.

    Have a great September, everyone.

  • Beautifully Briefed 25.4: Showered

    Beautifully Briefed 25.4: Showered

    Please note: I sometimes add updates to previous posts; this happened with both the March and February posts, below. Thanks.

    In this edition of the Beautifully Briefed series: a little book and book design news, a couple of complaints, and, in celebration of April, a (gentle) shower of great photography.

    Books and Book Design
    LitHub 10th

    Happy Birthday to LitHub, the most popular editorial book site in the world — after Amazon’s Goodreads — and a continued source of great book cover content. 36,108 posts later, they’re better and stronger than ever. Congrats.

    Penguin’s 90th
    Art direction by Jim Stoddart.

    Penguin’s story started in 1935 with the simple idea that quality literature shouldn’t cost more than a packet of cigarettes. Despite scepticism from publishers and booksellers, when founder Allen Lane launched his publishing company he sparked a paperback revolution in the UK. Within a year, three million Penguins had made it to readers’ shelves.

     — Aimee Mclaughlin, Creative Review (UK)

    To mark its milestone anniversary in 2025, the publisher’s new Penguin Archive series draws from its expansive archive with 90 short books — and interesting new covers for the same.

    May they enjoy another 90 years. Or many more.

    Some Colossal Notebooks

    From postage stamps to jetliner specifications to items he packed for the journey, José Naranja’s sketchbooks capture minute details of numerous international trips. “I’m lost in the intricate details, as always,” he tells Colossal. Everything from currency to noodle varieties to film references make their way into small books brimming with travel ephemera and observations.

    — Kate Mothes, This is Colossal

    “Sketchbook” does not do these things justice:

    Wow. Read — and see — more.

    Special Bonus #1: The Guardian has a wonderful story of a bookstore in downtown Chelsea, Michigan, moving about a block to a new location. Patrons helped … by forming a human chain and passing the books, one by one, to the correct location on the new shelves.

    Photograph by Burrill Strong for The Guardian/AP.

    Fantastic. Read the details.

    Facepalms and Footguns
    Anti-Piracy, Indeed
    Ars Technica illustration by Aurich Lawson.

    “Naturally, it would be hilarious if the anti-piracy campaign actually turned out to have used this pirated font…” is, in fact, not the opening line of a joke. Nick Heer caught wind of it and posted; Ars Technica followed up with the full story. Definitely worth the few moments of your time.

    Special Bonus #2: Use generative AI to create steal fonts, too: BrandNew, which is paywalled (alas), highlights an Instagram post — which I’m not going to link to — about a dude feeding pictures of fonts into ChatGPT and claiming the generated results, a “new” typeface, as free to use.

    My favorite of the comments summarizes perfectly: “That’s how humans work as well – we copy each other’s work like crazy; art history is rife with this in plain view. What AI misses, however, are the little innovations that happen over time that lead to new and incredible ideas.”

    Special Bonus #3: On the subject of piracy, Adobe’s previously-mentioned Content Authenticity Initiative have born fruit — both in their major applications like Photoshop and a new, standalone app now in public beta. This PetaPixel piece has more.

    The (New) Synology Tax

    Starting with the 2025 series of plus-level (and above) devices, Synology will now restrict drives — spinning or solid-state — to their own, branded items, which offer the “highest levels of security and performance, while also offering more efficient support.” The pitch:

    Without a Synology-branded or approved drive in a device that requires it, NAS devices could fail to create storage pools and lose volume-wide deduplication and lifespan analysis, Synology’s German press release stated.

    — Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica

    I’d seen this story go by on Ars, remembered that it had been predicted a while back when they restricted their enterprise-level items, and tried not to get upset about it. But it ground at me; at lunch with a friend this weekend, I went off on them a bit.

    I decided to vent publicly upon hearing part of this week’s ATP — that’s Accidental Tech Podcast — wherein Casey Liss introduced me to the term “footgun.” “Synology have turned off so many of their most ardent evangelists. Just so they can sell some overpriced hard drives,” he says, highlighting some other examples of companies (Eero, Sonos) doing precisely that … and mentioning Apple doing to opposite.

    But then I had a chance to hear the rest of that program. The other two guys on ATP, Marco Arment (Overcast, among others) and John Siracusa (long-time Mac guy, former Ars reviewer), had some excellent counter-arguments: 1) that we all pay the Apple Tax, sometimes begrudgingly but almost always willingly … because it’s worth it; 2) it’s a small price to pay to have the research of what to buy — what actually works best — done for you (plus the ease of support); and 3) that just because a company you’ve worked with for a long time changes their policies in a way that upsets or even angers, it’s not necessarily a betrayal: in other words, if you hadn’t been used to a specific approach with that company, the new setup would just be the way it works. We have to keep that in mind.

    I want to be upset with Synology. I should probably get over it.

    Photography, Showered
    2025 Sony Awards, Again

    Following up from last month, the 2025 Sony World Photography Awards winners have been announced. I erred last month in suggesting that the winners had been announced when it was, in fact, only the finalists; apologies.

    Photograph by Zed Nelson.

    British photographer Zed Nelson is “Photographer of the Year 2025” for his incredible series, The Anthropocene Illusion, an example of which is seen above. (See more.)

    Photograph by Ulana Switucha.

    Gotta give a shout out to some Canadian photographer Ulana Switucha, their overall winner in the Architecture & Design category, for The Public Toilet Project. “The distinctive buildings are as much works of art as they are a public convenience. These images are part of a larger body of work documenting the architectural aesthetics of these structures in their urban environment,” Switucha writes in a statement to Wallpaper*. (See more.)

    Some of these contests get to be a bit much. Sony’s is consistently interesting, challenging, and has earned its status as one to pay attention to.

    NASA Needs Our Support

    Like seemingly everything in the past few months, NASA has taken some major hits — and been forced to do something it should never have to: launch a campaign to remind folks what it is that they actually do. The ISS is one, yes, but arguably the tip of a very large iceberg.

    Talk about taking the long view.

    Oh, and one other NASA thing: it’s the Hubble Space Telescope’s 35th (!) birthday.

    “This skewed spiral galaxy, called Arp 184, is about 190 million light-years away from Earth; it earned its spot in the Peculiar Galaxies catalog thanks to its single broad, star-speckled spiral arm that appears to stretch toward us,” The Atlantic writes in this timely — and appreciated — edition of In Focus, their photo series.

    While NASA can provide us with wonderful images of many worlds, for now at least, we have only one pale blue dot to share. Let’s all do our part to make sure that NASA’s role in actually keeping America great — that is, at the forefront of science and research — is recognized and supported.

    See more at PetaPixel.

    Update, 7 May 2025: PetaPixel follows up on the Hubble image of Arp 184, seen above. Read more.

    Space for More

    In other NASA news, Don Petit recently returned to Earth, having spent a minute doing science giving us gifts. Like this one:

    Photograph by Don Petit.

    His photographs, taken from the International Space Station, showcase both his artistic talent and his desire to share with the wider world the beauty and fragility of this pale blue dot. (As if that isn’t enough, he touched down on his 70th birthday — fantastic.)

    Hungry?

    While not one of the world’s leading photography contests, the shortlist for the World Food Photography Awards did its job: it celebrates some incredibly artistic work:

    “Nature’s Hand.” Photograph by Wim Demessemaekers.

    Okay, yes, it’s veggies in a bowl. But restaurant-quality or even Michelin-quality food presentation is its own thing — and it’s a thriving photographic specialty:

    “‘At Alchémille in Kaysersberg, Chef Jérôme Jaegle transforms ingredients into artistry. Bathed in natural sunlight, this moment captures the essence of his plant-forward philosophy — fresh flavors, wild botanicals, and pure craftsmanship. The light reveals every detail, turning this dish into a celebration of seasonality, taste and dedication,” the full caption for the above photograph reads.

    It’s enough to make you want a drink:

    “Mr. Manhattan.” Photograph by Ben Cole.

    See more at PetaPixel … then enjoy a long lunch.

    Instrumental Macros

    Charles Brooks (previously) is back into it — literally:

    “Larilee Elkhart Oboe.” Photograph by Charles Brooks.

    “This formidable concept of capturing the unseen lies at the core of Charles Brooks’ work, as he photographs the small but vast interiors of musical — and most recently scientific — instruments,” This is Colossal writes.

    “St. Marks Pipe Organ, Part 2.” Photograph by Charles Brooks.

    The behind-the-scenes photograph posted at the link tells much, but it’s the talent that the photographer brings to the table — screen, wall, wherever — that works so very well. Once again, sir, kudos.

    Special Bonus #4: We’ve covered Sigma’s new branding. What wasn’t mentioned is their gorgeous and sophisticated new packaging:

    “Sigma’s cameras, lenses, and accessories are sure to arrive in style and come in simple, understated boxes with embossed type. Accessories, like straps, chargers, cables, and batteries, arrive in a lovely goldenrod yellow, while lenses will ship in black, beige, blue, or olive green containers. As for the Sigma BF camera, it is nestled in a classic medium gray,” PetaPixel‘s Jeremy Gray writes.

  • Beautifully Briefed 25.3: March Madness

    Beautifully Briefed 25.3: March Madness

    A huge stack of items for the March wrap-up, from libraries and type to a bunch of photography items, with a brief stop in the land of Jaguar that is … Paris. (Yes, the world’s gone all wonky. But you knew that already.) However, first, a quick discussion of what we’re not going to usually talk about.

    On Seriousness

    I’m going to keep my coverage of current events to a minimum; this is not the place, and I am not qualified to write about it with any authority (other than as a concerned citizen). But there are some items I think are worth sharing.

    Techdirt, for instance — like Kottke and others — have posted extensively on the political and culture shift in the United States, but in this case, specifically how it intersects with technology.

    TechDirt, March 2025.

    We’ve always covered the intersection of technology, innovation, and policy (27+ years and counting). Sometimes that meant writing about patents or copyright, sometimes about content moderation, sometimes about privacy. […] But there’s more to it than that. […] When you’ve spent years watching how some tech bros break the rules in pursuit of personal and economic power at the expense of safety and user protections, all while wrapping themselves in the flag of “innovation,” you get pretty good at spotting the pattern.

    — Mike Masnick, Techdirt

    “Connecting these dots is basically what we do here at Techdirt,” they argue, and I find it convincing. As some of us struggle with how to source actual news these days, Techdirt has earned a spot in my list of daily reads.

    Of course, it’s not just the United States. Arguably, the United Kingdom led with Brexit:

    “Boris Johnson, Liar.” Image by POW.

    ArchDaily brings us the story of Led by Donkeys, which started out “as a witty response to Brexit” and morphed into a visual tour de force. (Their name is a historical reference to World War I, where German commanders reportedly described British soldiers as “lions led by donkeys,” a critique of incompetent leadership — and not at all a reference to the U.S. Democratic party as it currently, uh, stands.)

    Rupert Murdoch, NYC. Photo by Fionn Guilfoyle.

    Light Matters, a column on light and space, is a regular item at ArchDaily.

    Then there’s AI and its current leap to the fore. While it’s been discussed here before, what hasn’t been is the effect on “the free.” What about the Wikis and free-as-in-beer intellect that isn’t property?

    From Citation Needed:

    But the trouble with trying to continually narrow the definitions of “free” is that it is impossible to write a license that will perfectly prohibit each possibility that makes a person go “wait, no, not like that” while retaining the benefits of free and open access. If that is truly what a creator wants, then they are likely better served by a traditional, all rights reserved model in which any prospective reuser must individually negotiate terms with them; but this undermines the purpose of free, and restricts permitted reuse only to those with the time, means, and bargaining power to negotiate on a case by case basis. […] The true threat from AI models training on open access material is not that more people may access knowledge thanks to new modalities. It’s that those models may stifle Wikipedia and other free knowledge repositories, benefiting from the labor, money, and care that goes into supporting them while also bleeding them dry. It’s that trillion dollar companies become the sole arbiters of access to knowledge after subsuming the painstaking work of those who made knowledge free to all, killing those projects in the process.

    — Molly White, Citation Needed

    The whole essay is excellent and absolutely worth a read. (Via Pixel Envy.)

    Update, 2 April 2025: ArsTechnica reports on a 50% rise in Wikimedia bandwidth usage as LLMs “vacuum up” terabytes of data for AI training purposes. “Wikimedia found that bots account for 65 percent of the most expensive requests to its core infrastructure despite making up just 35 percent of total pageviews.”

    Update, 10 April 2025: Nick Heer:

    Given the sheer volume of stuff scraped by A.I. companies, it is hard to say how much value any single source has in generating material in response to an arbitrary request. Wikimedia might be the exception, however. It is so central and its contents so expansive that it is hard to imagine many of these products would be nearly so successful without it.

    I do not see the names of any of the most well-known A.I. companies among the foundation’s largest donors. Perhaps they are the seven anonymous donors in the $50,000-and-up group. I suggest they, at the very least, give more generously and openly.

    Let’s assume it’s okay to say, “Heer, Heer!”

    Special Bonus #1: David Opdykes vintage postcard paintings, described at This is Colossal as “[o]ccasionally darkly humorous yet steeped in a sense of foreboding.”

    David Opdyke, “Main Stage” (2015-2020), gouache on vintage postcard, 6 x 4 inches.
    On Libraries, Type, and Type Libraries
    Museums and Libraries

    Kottke isn’t just about politics, though; he’s tried to keep up with some of the things necessary in today’s world — the projects that bring light or even delight. So, while we’re on the subject of Wikipedia, let’s highlight his link to the Museum of All Things:

    A “nearly-infinite virtual museum generated from Wikipedia,” this program is made possible by the images associated with an article. Better still, there are exits from the galleries that follow the links in those articles, leading to … well, lots to see.

    Meanwhile, Cultured magazine brings us a great article on four great libraries in the U.S. — I mean, a slide!? Awesome:

    The North Boulder library. Photograph by Bruce Damonte.

    Visit Seattle, Scottsdale (AZ), Eastham (MA), and, as shown above, North Boulder, Colorado, and read a brief item with the architect that designed them.

    Print magazine brings us an article the New York Public Library’s celebration of 100 years of the New Yorker magazine — another institution continuing to do great work in the face of today’s realities:

    Photograph by Amelia Nash.

    The exhibition, which “charts the magazine’s evolution from the roaring twenties to the digital age, drawing from NYPL’s vast archives and supplemented by treasures from The New Yorker itself,” is up through February 21st, 2026. Or, if you’re not able to make it to the Big Apple, check out the film on Vimeo.

    Type and Typography

    Feckled offers “150+ hand-orinted letterpress fonts for digital download,” This is Colossal highlights, mentioning creative director Jason Pattinson’s new venture. It’s not perfect — those letterpress fonts are JPG files, not installable typefaces — but nonetheless, worth a look if you need something unique for a Photoshop project:

    Some of the typefaces offered at Feckled.

    CreativeBoom brings us their monthly feature on type, with two I’d like to highlight. Naancy, new from French foundry 205tf, is Art Nouveau in all the right ways:

    “Inspired by the French city of Nancy and its school of art and design,” 205tf says.

    But it’s Aktinson Hyperlegible Next that gets the prize from me:

    “The Atkinson Hyperlegible font uses special design principles to differentiate characters and make each one unique,” helping low-vision readers everywhere.

    First introduced in 2019, it’s now been expanded to different weights and styles, with new glyphs (individual characters, that is) for different languages and situations. As before, it’s free from the Braille Institute. Fantastic.

    On A Wild Jaguar

    Back in December, Jaguar made a huge splash — not necessarily the graceful skipping stone we think of from the glory days, but lots of waves nonetheless — with its Type 00 concept, highlighted here on Foreword (along with literally everywhere else).

    The satin blue finish is only one of the striking things in this photograph.

    On March 10th, it was, um, spotted in the wild, in what was certainly a choreographed event — given the huge influencer paparazzi presence — but not gained a ton of traction (sorry) in the mainstream press. (Motor1 caught a whiff, and decided it “doesn’t even look real….”)

    However, I mentioned in December that it’s too early to call a strike — a position The Autopian‘s Jason Torchinsky almost agrees with: “Holy crap, I think I like it.” Shown in Paris, and described as “gliding around and looking like it somehow doesn’t exactly fully exist as part of our reality,” it might be starting to bring people around.

    There’s no rear window, but at least now we know how the trunk is accessed on the car.

    The sedan this concept previews will debut this year. Let’s see how it shakes out.

    On Wild Photography
    Leica Turns 100
    The Leica I was unveiled 100 years ago: March 1, 1925. (Photo by Kameraprojekt Graz 2015. CC-BY-SA 4.0.)

    “The Leica I, the first mass-produced 35mm Leica camera, is widely celebrated for its influence on photography,” PetaPixel notes with dry understatement. (Thankfully, they use the word “revolutionary” farther down in the article.)

    “I hereby decide: we will take the risk,” Ernst Leitz II said in 1925 when he decided to mass-produce the famed Oskar Barnack’s Ur-Leica invention, and modern photography was born. From the front in World War II to the weblog you’re reading and literally everything in between, Leica has led in ways large and small.

    Their M system is a direct descendant of that Leica I and still produced today, to great acclaim; the Q all-in-one cameras are huge hits despite the luxury price tags; and even their missteps seem to find their place, as MacFolios highlights in “Two Leica digital cameras with legacies that defied initial criticism.”

    Some of Leica’s APS-C camera systems: from left, the T, the CL, and the X-E.

    One of those, the CL, is my camera of choice — and despite being six years old and discontinued, is still getting software updates and a growing selection of lenses thanks to the L-Mount lens system. (Another is the T/TL mentioned last month when Sigma introduced the BF.) May it live for a good long while yet, as Leicas tend to do.

    Special Bonus #2: PetaPixel bring us another interview with Sigma’s personable CEO, Kazuto Yamaki, on why he is “so passionate and driven for the success of his family business.”

    Nature and Wildlife Photography Awards

    Highlighting the “endless wonders of our planet,” This is Colossal brings us the fantastic results of the 2025 World Nature Photography Awards, a contest whose photography can “influence people to see the world from a different perspective and change their own habits for the good of the planet.”

    Fireworks, Brazil. Photograph by Marcio Esteves Cabral.
    Feathers, Sri Lanka. Photograph by Pandula Bandara.
    Devghali Beach, India. Photograph by Mantanu Majumder.

    Of course, it’s impossible to mention today’s wildlife without mentioning the “vulnerability of the earth’s inhabitants and juxtapositions between nature and the human-built environment,” as Colossal notes.

    Ankle Bracelets, United States. Photograph by Charlotte Keast.

    Meanwhile, there’s also the (unrelated) 2024 Nature Photography Awards, as highlighted by PetaPixel:

    Polar Bear Amid Fireweed Blooms, unlisted Arctic location. Photograph by Christopher Paetkau.

    There are also the 2025 British Wildlife Photography Awards, as noted by This is Colossal:

    Street Cleaners, London. Photograph by Ben Lucas.

    We do, in fact, run into too many of these contests; while I can’t argue with that, I can suggest that nature and wildlife are worthy subjects. Even in fun:

    Declaration of Love. Photograph by Roland Kranitz.

    Crooning, almost — Squirrel Sinatra. See more of the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards at PetaPixel.

    2025 Sony Photography Awards

    Another contest, yes, but one that’s gained a stature — almost a half a million entries this year — and one that covers a huge variety of subjects:

    The Colours of the Andes, Peru. Photograph by Kunal Gupta.

    Naturally, I gravitate towards the architecture category:

    Monochrome Majesty: Cuatro Torres Business Area, Spain. Photograph by Robert Fülöp.
    The Guard, Netherlands. Photograph by Max van Son.
    Centre of the Cosmos, China. Photograph by Xuecheng Liu.

    Read More at This is Colossal and Archinect or visit the World Photography Organisation.

    The Darkest Skies

    PetaPixel also brings us photography from Mihail Minkov, who spent nearly six months traveling to “dark sky” locations — those not suffering from the ever-increasing effects of artificial light — and brought home some spectacular results:

    A Moai on Râpă Nui, or Easter Island, in the South Pacific. Photograph by Mihail Minkov.

    Special Bonus #3: Lego F1 action photography!

    Great stuff from Hungarian photographer Benedek Lampert. (See his Star Wars Lego photographs, too.)

  • Beautifully Briefed 25.2: Late Winter Stew

    Beautifully Briefed 25.2: Late Winter Stew

    A bunch of tasty ingredients in this month’s post — from friendly identities and open-source typefaces to feel-good photography. Once past the minor rant we’re that covers the other meaning of stew, that is. Read on.

    It’s Nice That on Copyright and Reuse

    Elizabeth Goodspeed, editor-at-large for It’s Nice That, has a great column up regarding copyright and the current — and trending — business climate, especially with regard to copyright: it’s become the norm, she argues, for companies to mine open-source and expired-copyright imagery instead of hiring an artist, a trend exacerbated by the rise of AI. “Instead of safeguarding creators, copyright now favors whoever has the resources to outlast their opponent in a legal battle,” she writes. “Since public domain material already looks polished, using it also eliminates the time, effort, and expense of creating something new from scratch (not to mention the time spent building its associative meaning from the ground up). But why would anyone ever commission an illustrator when they can just pull something free from an archive?”

    She’s done it herself:

    The Murders in the Rue Morgue, 1895 (public domain). Aubrey Beardsley.
    New Antiquarians, 2023. Book design by Elizabeth Goodspeed.

    She also points to a new UK proposal for a data mining exemption to be given to AI companies. “[I]t would lead to a “wholesale” transfer of wealth from the creative industries to the tech sector,” Sir Paul McCartney argues. (Source.) But isn’t that true of the larger picture these days, no matter the country?

    Not all borrowing is the same. Copying is often more about power than propriety. When working with archival material myself, I like to think in terms of the stand-up comedy rule: punching up vs. punching down. Picking up visual motifs from a billion-dollar corporation that’s built its empire on copyright hoarding? That’s punching up. Repackaging the work of a living artist from a marginalised background without credit or compensation? Likewise, using found material for an indie zine is a far cry from pulling from the same source for a corporate client that could easily afford to commission something new.

    — Elizabeth Goodspeed, It’s Nice That Editor-at-large

    It is most certainly a trend in book design — but the bigger question here is one she states as fact: “[r]ather than referencing the past, designers are stripping it for parts.” It’s worth stepping back, as designers, and consider how we source — and use — imagery.

    The entire article, only part of which is discussed above, is worth a read. And more than a moment’s thought.

    Okay, on to the fun stuff.

    An author on her own book design

    Mary Childs, a co-host of the Planet Money podcast on NPR, writes on LitHub what it’s like to tackle the cover design for the book she’d written:

    LitHub’s great cover graphic — pun likely intended — for Mary’s attempts.

    “This very slight, low-stakes request for ‘inspiration’ became an all-consuming assignment. My brain started spitting out cover ideas. And then more cover ideas. I was sure I would break through and create the Great American Finance-book-that-reads-like-a-Novel Cover,” she writes — and, better still, backs up with illustrations.

    Cover design by the Flatiron Books in-house art dept.

    In the end, she left it to the professionals — but the trip is absolutely worth the read. (Be sure to follow the Na Kim link, too.) Via Kottke.

    Special Bonus #1: Speaking of Na Kim, and also via Kottke, she’s somehow found time to start painting. “Be careful what you’re good at, you’re going to get stuck doing that.”

    The Fantastic Mr. Font (and other big Dahls)

    “Pluckish and playful” is more than a description of the wonderfully-named Fantastic Mr. Font, it’s the description of the new identity for the Roald Dahl Story Company. (Which is, unfortunately, a division of Netflix — but we’ll leave that for another day.)

    Just right. So, too, it the font’s interaction with various illustration elements:

    Roald Dahl and Sir Quentin Blake — plus the new font.

    The typeface was “developed in collaboration with type foundry Pangram Pangram, the font is a customisation of its existing font PP Acma, turning its already unconventional characteristics into something ‘more mischievous,’” Ellis Tree — another great name — writes at It’s Nice That.

    Read the full, well-illustrated story.

    Special Bonus #2: While we’re on the subject of branding, check out the new look for Publisher’s Weekly:

    BrandNew’s before-and-after of the PW logo.

    It’s actually a return to an older form, but updated. Their website has a brief explanation. (Via BrandNew.)

    PW examines options for their new/old logo.
    Some Fantastic Fonts
    Lettra Mono

    Speaking of Pangram Pangram, let’s start there: their Lettra Mono was the standout of Creative Boom’s roundup of new fonts for February. Monospaced serif fonts are unusual, but good ones….

    The italics, especially.
    Inclusive Sans

    CB also chose the incredible update to Inclusive Sans, which was also the subject of an article at It’s Nice That — and, better still, free, open-sourced, and now available in five-weight goodness at Google Fonts.

    Love the retro style of the supporting images.

    “Inclusive Sans is a new typeface from Olivia King that puts accessibility at the forefront,” It’s Nice That writes. “It’s arisen from the type designer’s research into typographic accessibility and readability – from highly regarded traditional guides and papers to more modern approaches to letterform legibility.”

    Available in a variable weight, too.
    Gorton

    Marcin Wichary — he of Shift Happens fame — pens (heh) an comprehensive and incredibly well-illustrated article on Gorton, a typeface you’re undoubtedly seen but don’t know.

    Anyone who knows Shift Happens will recognize the illustrative style. Photograph by Marcin Wichary.

    “One day,” he writes, “I saw what felt like Gorton on a ferry traversing the waters Bay Area. A few weeks later, I spotted it on a sign in a national park. Then on an intercom. On a street lighting access cover. In an elevator. At my dentist’s office. In an alley.”

    See also the f6 in the title image, above. Photograph by Marcin Wichary.

    It’s a long post, so save it for when you’ve a minute to enjoy — but 110% worth it.

    Special Bonus #3: Creative Bloq has a list of the best typography of the 1920s — “from Futura to Industria Gravur” — as chosen by designers. My fave? Gill Sans, of course.

    Used in Saab’s advertising, amongst about a billion other examples.

    Special Bonus #4: Nick Heer at Pixel Envy comments on a list posted by Robb Knight: “Something very useful from the Atlas of Type: a huge list of type foundries.” A good Canadian citizen, he reminds us that Pangram Pangram is, in fact, Canadian. More: “I was particularly excited to learn about Tiro Typeworks. They have a vast library of type for scientific and scholarly works [… I]f you are reading this on MacOS, you probably have STIX Two installed.”

    Some Great Photography

    Comet G3 visits every 600,000 years, they say. Hmph.

    Yuri Beletsky of the ESO caught G3 over the telescopes in Chile.

    Great stuff. See more at PetaPixel.

    Meanwhile, on the subject of space — and PetaPixel — a reminder that one of the most infamous photographs in history turned 35 on Valentine’s Day:

    The Pale Blue Dot. (2020 remastered edition.)

    Aaaand one more from PetaPixel: a book. Eight photographers documented 24 hours at the Vienna Airport, offering up more than a few behind-the-scenes shots — in celebration of its 70th anniversary:

    Photograph by Jérôme Gence.

    “The project was overseen by Lois Lammerhuber,” PetaPixel writes, “a publisher and photographer, who has since turned the collection of images into a book titled The Dream of Flying.”

    Photograph by Ulla Lohmann.

    The project was “about showing the people who use the airport as well as highlighting the staff who ensure all the airplanes depart and land safely.” My favorite shot:

    Photograph by Ana María Arévalo Gosen.

    I’m an airport and large/commercial plane junkie — and old enough to remember when all-access at the local airport wasn’t a big deal — so it was great to see these.

    Lastly, from This is Colossal, another round of the “coincidental” style of Eric Kogan:

    Photograph by Eric Kogan.

    All NYC this time. Check ’em out.

    Special Bonus #5: Art News notes that Paul Rudoph’s Walker Guest House is for sale for the bargain price of $2 million. It’s a kit home that’s been assembled in various places, including the grounds of the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Florida. (It’s currently in storage in Rhinebeck, New York. Shipping is not included.)

    So why is in the photography section, you ask?

    Photograph by Giles Hoover.

    That’s why. Check out more of my photography from Ringling and Sarasota. (The Walker images are near the top.)

    Photograph by Giles Hoover.
    Sigma: a new BFF?

    No, that’s just BF — it stands for “beautiful foolishness,” after a line from a poem in Okura Tenshin’s The Book of Tea — but, as usual for them, something different. Something good.

    Like the FP before it, there’s nothing you don’t need, bordering perhaps on a minimalism that’s … stark? No viewfinder, no stabilization, no mechanical shutter, built-in memory (so no card slot), haptic interface. But style for days, a great shape and texture, and absolutely the right size.

    It’s made at the rapid clip of nine per day, because it’s made from a single billet of aluminum — shades of the Leica T/TL/TL2 (something I maintain was before its time, and discontinued short-sightedly) — except full-frame. And, of course, supported by Sigma’s extensive catalog of L-mount lenses. (Another commonality with the TL.)

    At $2000, it’s the right price, too. Read more here or here or here.

    Oh, and one more thing: Sigma has a new identity to go with the BF:

    Slightly more formal, slightly on-trend typography, which is fine — but the logo is clever in being both a letter and a lens. More of that just right to close out the day.

    Special Bonus #6: Sigma’s CEO Kazuto Yamaki is charismatic, interesting, and dedicated, as seen in the videos PetaPixel has introducing their new HQ building in 2022. Love the library-wrapped staircase.

    Update, 4 March 2025: PetaPixel has posted a YouTube podcast/interview with Kazuto Yamaki, in which he talks about the BF and possibly a new, “serious” camera to compliment their 300-600mm lens. (This is probably a better intro to Sigma’s CEO than the above.)

    Special Bonus #7: TTArtisan, the Chinese manufacturer making interesting L-mount lenses — I have two, both solidly in the cheap-and-cheerful category — is about to introduce their first camera … and “interesting” is, in fact, the best way to describe it:

    Purely mechanical, no batteries required, instant film camera that’s decidedly retro.

    See you in the spring!

  • Beautifully Briefed 25.1: A Different Year

    Beautifully Briefed 25.1: A Different Year

    This edition discusses new type, mergers and items set free, and visits with both some photo contest winners and winning poster designs. (And if you haven’t seen my annual Favorite Book Covers post, keep scrolling.) But first…:

    Former President Carter
    Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, 2013. Photograph by Ed Ritger. (CC 2.0.)

    One of the strongest voices of reason left us on December 29th, 2024: former President Jimmy Carter. He’s the first president I actually remember, and one of the things I’ve appreciated about recent years is the growth of his stature from undeserved fill-in-label-here to treasured humanitarian.

    I’d like to share a couple of items that are meaningful to me. First is his commitment to Habitat for Humanity — and not only as a speaker and fundraiser, but someone who contributed by actually swinging a hammer:

    Former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Photo via Habitat for Humanity.

    Into their 90s and still working. Take it from David Letterman:

    While we’re on the subject of David Letterman, this September, 1993 appearance shows both humanity and humor:

    Another quick item is this 60 Minutes tour of his office — something that always speaks volumes about a person:

    Plains, Carter’s lifelong residence, is a frequent sojourn for me, and a recommended way to both experience rural Georgia and learn more about his roots. (I had always intended to attend one of his regular Sunday school lessons and regret not having made the time.) Visit when you have the opportunity.

    Water Mill, Carter Farm, 2021. (Adobe Content Credentials applied.)

    May your influence of peace continue for another lifetime, Mr. President.

    New Type of Year

    Creative Boom brings us their roundup of new typefaces for January, and a couple caught my attention:

    Bergamot Grotesk.

    SLTF Bergamot Grotesk, an Art Deco-style, all caps headline face is a striking new option from Silverstag. This is trendy, of course — Art Deco is in — but timeless at the same time, and something I hope I have an opportunity to use.

    Another is a new version that’s instantly a beautiful classic, Milla, hand-developed and a joy to look at:

    Hoping for the perfect book project for this one.

    Mergers … and Freedom

    If you’ve not heard, Getty and Shutterstock have proposed a merger. This is, put simply, both understandable and … not good.

    PetaPixel covers both the announcement, with the usual words from the greedy types CEOs, and a history of both companies and their role in how we got here. This is perhaps the most relevant, however:

    The rise of artificial intelligence has likely played a role in the merger; the combined assets of Shutterstock and Getty are a treasure trove of training data for AI companies. However, while AI licensing deals are an opportunity, it could also be an issue for stock photo companies as customers may decide to use AI image generators like Midjourney or DALL-E rather than pay for individual pictures.

    — Matt Growcoot, PetaPixel

    For the record, I completely agree with PetaPixel‘s Jason Schneider when he opines that it’s “yet another step in a race to the bottom.” The deal could possibly attract antitrust notice from the U.S. government; here’s hoping.

    But it’s also hopeful — and slightly wonderful — that it’s new year, which means a new crop of items are now freed from the constraints of copyright. Kottke lists some of his favorites, and points us to a fantastic post from Duke University’s Center for the Public Domain, which has lists and links aplenty. (My favorite: Tintin.)

    Image via This is Colossal.

    But there’s more: This is Colossal points us to a new resource for items in the public domain: the Public Domain Image Archive, from the Public Domain Review, which hosts more than 10,000 images freely available to use, reuse, mix, or whatever. Awesome.

    Couple of faves:

    Lorena Stoer, Geometric Landscapes, from 1567. (Yes, you read that right.)
    Apollo 11, 1969, from NASA.

    Another NASA image is in the header, and we’ll see another from them in a minute.

    Meanwhile, Public Domain Review also has a list of items copyright-free as of the new year; check both resources — and use some newly-available items to your heart’s content.

    Special Bonus #1: This is Colossal, in 2016, also pointed us to another collection of freely-available items, this time from the New York Public Library. Great stuff.

    Special Bonus #2: In a three-fer for This is Colossal, they also highlight a new campaign from the U.S. National Archives asking those who can read cursive — no longer a requirement in school, a completely daft decision we’ll leave for another time — to contribute some time translating historical items. (And that’s not all you can do.) Become a Citizen Archivist today.

    Get Lectured

    No, not me: Archinect (previously) highlights their favorite architecture school lecture posters from Fall ’24, which I somehow didn’t mention. A couple of favorites:

    Florida Atlantic University.
    University of Wisconsin at Madison.

    The new year is off to a good start, too:

    UCLA.
    UPenn.

    UPenn’s fall ’24 poster is in the same vein and also rocks. Check out all the winners — and watch this space for more.

    Winning Photography

    I’m threatening to get a Raspberry Pi — the ol’ fashioned ad-blocker route is less and less effective, and a more robust alternative may be added — and was interested in this PetaPixel story about the desktop photos the system uses as standard: “[w]alking through a train station in New Zealand, Greg Annandale looks up to see his photo on an information screen. The Raspberry Pi computer powering the board has gone back to the desktop wallpaper which Annandale shot of a road in Iceland.”

    That would be this one:

    Road, Sólheimasandur, Iceland. Photo by Greg Annandale.

    Couple of others:

    Pia Fjord, Patagonia. Photo by Greg Annandale.
    Cordillera Darwin, Patagonia. Photo by Greg Annandale.

    Good stuff. Check out his website for more, and see the whole Pi here.

    Next, I promised NASA would put in another appearance. How’s this:

    Photo by Don Petit/NASA.

    In what Ars Technica senior space editor calls “the best picture ever taken from the International Space Station,” we have something special indeed. “In this image, one can see the core of the Milky Way galaxy, zodiacal light (sunlight diffused by interplanetary dust), streaks of SpaceX Starlink satellites, individual stars, an edge-on view of the atmosphere that appears in burnt umber due to hydroxide emissions, a near-sunrise just over the horizon, and nighttime cities appearing as streaks.”

    Wow.

    To round things out for January, we have a couple of photo contests whose winners caught my eye. We’ll start with The Society of Photographers and their photographer of the year 2024. My faves:

    Architectural Photographer of the Year award. Photograph by Andre Boto.
    Events Photographer of the Year award. Photograph by Mark Lynham.

    While I wish their selections were more extensively labeled and/or titled, it’s still awesome to see the raw talent highlighted with well-deserved accolades. See the PetaPixel story or the contests’ website for more.

    Lastly, some life in the wild, courtesy of the UK’s Natural History Museum People’s Choice Award:

    Annoying Neighbour, Kiskunság National Park, Hungary. Photograph by Bence Máté.

    “Eyeing one another” fails to do this one justice. And then there’s the Villarrica volcano:

    Earth and Sky, Pucón, Chile. Photograph by Francisco Negroni.

    But it’s the patience of this shot that wins it for me:

    Edge of Night, near Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photograph by Jess Findley.

    “Jess quietly watched the owl for several nights to understand its habits.

    “He set up an invisible beam that would trigger a flash when the owl flew out of the barn. Simultaneously, a slow shutter speed gathered ambient light cast on the clouds and barn.

    “On the tenth night, all the moving parts came together as the owl left to begin its hunt.”

    The winner of this contest will be announced on February 5th. Check the website. (Via This is Colossal.)

    See y’all in February.

  • My Favorite Book Covers of 2024

    My Favorite Book Covers of 2024

    2024 was interesting in the way of the apocryphal Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” Taking the time out to peruse the best of the new releases — for both book cover design and books in general — is tremendously enjoyable. Needed, even, now more than ever.

    When it came time to do the years’ tally, summary, and post, the number of candidates in the favorites folder was well over three hundred: a third more than last year, more than double 2022’s.

    It’s been argued that the increasing number of published titles is a reflection of publishers’ woes, including fighting back against publishing slop. (See my Beautifully Briefed series for more.) However, the increasing number of published titles means more work for the book designers among us — some of whom show, or continue to show, exceptional skill.

    Consequently, this year’s list of favorite book design items has grown: up to one hundred and sixteen. Wow.

    Fix a beverage and get comfy.

    Please remember that the usual disclaimer applies: these are my favorites — others might say “best,” but I’ve been in this business long enough to know that there’s always another title you haven’t seen or read about. I don’t want to disrespect any of the talented book designers not on this list. I’ve tried to include design credit where I could — special thanks to the folks who answered emails with that information — and wish to stress that any mistakes in the list below are mine.

    Note: If you’re on Foreword’s main page, please click on the post title, above, to view this list. You’ll get larger covers for your viewing pleasure.

    • • •

    My Four Faves for ’24
    Cover design by Pablo Delcan.

    It’s no surprise that we’re leading with an example of minimalism-as-superlative. This UK title is described thusly: “The centre of Chimera engages with a three-year field research project on the goat-herding practices of the Vlachs, a nomadic people of Northern Greece and the Southern Balkans, who speak their own language. In these poems, day-to-day activities such as shearing and shepherding mix with snippets of conversations, oral tradition and song―locating a larger story in this ancient marriage between humans and animals.”

    Aside from being visually arresting, I can’t think of a better visual summary — yet still in keeping with the style of Cicada, the previous title. Awesome.

    Cover design by Kelly Winton.

    “[F]our generations of Eastern European Jewish women bound by blood, half-hidden secrets, and the fantastical visitation of a shapeshifting stranger over the course of 100 years,” all on a book cover, in a style that’s fresh and colorful with great lettering.

    Cover design by Faber. Photograph by Juno Calypso.

    Occasionally, a photograph just makes a cover — and this one vaults it to the top. (Sometimes, great book design is as “simple” as selecting great elements.) Part of a series called “the Honeymoon,” it’s absolutely the style of photographer Juno Calypso.

    Cover design by Alison Forner. Typography by Andrew Footit.

    Never mind the “time travel romance, spy thriller, workplace comedy, and ingenious exploration of the nature of power and the potential for love to change it all” — it’s the oh-so-dimensional title that transcends. (All that other stuff is just a bonus.)

    Other 2024 Favorites, in Alphabetical Order
    Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker.

    “I am unfinished business,” indeed.

    Cover design by Nico Taylor.

    A-as-eye, shape-as-bird, lines-as-cage: Kafkaesque-as-subtlety. Yet….

    Cover design by Emma Rogers.

    The paper is perfect, the title interleaved with the water superlative, and the blood, which can absolutely be done into the realm of cliché, drips rather than gushes.

    Cover design by Jack Smyth.

    The first of five appearances for Jack Smyth — tops this year — this cover speaks to solitude (and cats!) with fantastic expression.

    Special Bonus: A 2019 write-up on Smyth at It’s Nice That.

    Cover design by Emma Ewbank.

    This photographic subject is so strong, yet clearly speaks to the cloudy tenderness within. (Also, title placement.)

    Cover design by Helen Yentus.

    Another examples of typography-on-the-edge — but, really, the hero on this cover.

    Cover design by Johnathan Pelham.

    Fantastic title placement (with the perfect hint of wear), complimented by the unusual treatment of the author’s name and pull quote, this cover only hints at the story within yet holds it up.

    Cover design by Janet Hansen.

    I’ll admit: it’s not immediately clear how this title and cover work together. Yet they do, and it’s not just because of the (male) hand and (female) face — or striking colors — it’s more the representation of reflection, something required in maturity.

    Cover design by Chris Bentham.

    The rearrange-the-pieces treatment for faces has become a thing, but few do it so well. Special bonus for the selection of photograph for this UK version of the title — and great color choices.

    Cover design by Charlotte Stroomer. Photograph by Kelsey Mcclellan.

    Another example of the photograph making the cover — but with simply awesome typography, too. (Huge fan of the overall color scheme, too.)

    Cover design by Luke Bird.

    This UK title shoots to kill, perfect for a story of shooting one’s self in the back. (The Irony Dept. reports that the publisher is Dead Ink, by the way.)

    Cover design by Emma Pidsley.

    Sticks it to ’em in the most compelling way. (Also: “There are two things that I simply cannot tolerate: feminists and margarine.”)

    Cover design by Anna Morrison.

    Another UK title, this one counters the too-much-blood thing with fabulous typography and an over-the-top — well, off-the-side, really — crop. (I especially love that the top of the rook’s head just peeks above the yellow.)

    Cover design by Olivia Mcgiff.

    “Hair-raising,” indeed. (Check out the veins.) The opposite of queer, brown, and fat — and yet, somehow, just right.

    Cover design by Oliver Munday.

    Few others can express so much with just a line. It sounds like a joke, something that treats the subject with something less than it deserves, but quite literally the lines on this gray background make all the difference.

    Cover design by Suzanne Dean. Illusustion by Neue Gestaltung.

    Greeks myths, contemporary dystopian narratives — never mind that, it’s the illustration on this cover that gets the “terrifyingly talented” label.

    Cover design by Terri Nimmo.

    Subversive, surreal, yet “refuses to pander or be pinned down and possessed.” (Also, “Essays.”)

    Cover design by Sara Wood. Art by Isabel Emrich.

    Real estate agent Lexi senses a drowning, leading to … well, a novel — but it’s the artwork, by painter Isabel Emrich, that carries this cover to the next level.

    Cover design by Steve Coventry-Panton.

    Minimalism exemplified. While some could argue cliché, I’d argue that it’s the perfect choice: for the weary, for the curious, for this cover.

    Cover design by Isabel Urbina-Peña.

    The eyes just grab you — “crackle like a bonfire,” to quote one of the reviews. (They were speaking of the text, not the cover, but better words….)

    Cover design by Michael Salu.

    Simple and geometric, yet story-telling in the finest.

    Also, the whole jacket wins. (The bar code space is below “a novel,” by the way.)

    Cover design by Ssarahmay Wilkinson. Art by Day Brierre.

    Containing short stories set in Lagos, Nigeria, this cover speaks to African roots yet does so in a way that causes both admiration and upset in equal measure. “Brilliant” is overused, but….

    Cover design by Gregg Kulick.

    “Glorious Exploits,” indeed.

    Cover design by Jack Smyth.

    It’s, oddly, the UK version of this cover that does it for me: the US version relies on art, while Smyth’s version relies on talent. (Perhaps a metaphor for the bestseller within…?)

    Cover design by Alex Merto.

    Shades of M*A*S*H, certainly, yet brilliant on its own: lunatics is war.

    Cover design by Anna Morrison.

    “Playful demotic,” writ large.

    Cover design by Olivia McGiff.

    “A novel” is King. (Sorry.) Most haunting in exactly the right way.

    Cover design by Anna Morrison.

    The paper, the lines, all perfect — but it’s the crop that, well, sends it over the top.

    Cover design by Robin Bilardello.

    Labeled “perfect.”

    Cover design by Arsh Raziuddin.

    This girl represents the appropriate reaction to an image-based culture, a cut-apart look in the mirror that shouldn’t necessarily be limited to the fashion industry. (That the collage is vaguely heart-shaped probably ins’t a coincidence.) Bonus points for the title repeating around the edge.

    Cover design by Oliver Munday.

    “In a near-future world addled by climate change and inhabited by intelligent robots called ‘hums,’ May loses her job to artificial intelligence,” the description reads. Yes.

    Cover design by Edward Bettison.

    The illustration and type work so very well together. (Also, color.)

    Cover design by Erik Carter.

    Movie poster! (Also, color.)

    Cover design by Emily Mahon.

    With a title like that, it’s tempting to let it carry the day. Uh … no.

    Cover design by Alex Merto.

    The pink isn’t in halftone. (Also, the drops of drool.)

    Cover design by Adriana Tonell.

    A red, red rat is awesome. But it’s the way the green works — in the feet, yes, but especially the type — defines “win.”

    Cover design by Arsh Raziuddin.

    Not an easy title, handled with absolute skill.

    Cover design by Jack Smyth.

    “This book is written out of both love and hate for the world.” Nuthin’ but love for the cover from me.

    Cover design by Emily Mahon.

    Sometimes, the literal approach works. (Pardon the expression.) But it’s the added burn mark that makes it.

    Cover design by Dominique Jones.

    The red and gold, the title treatment, the complimentary blue ink, and the woman in the “o” are all fantastic. The snake, though, from scales to bite, is superlative.

    Cover design by Oliver Munday.

    Oooollllliiiiivvvvvveerr! (Two years in a row, even.)

    Cover design by Jodi Hunt.

    “British and Black, with Jazz and Character” is a tough brief, handled here in a way that makes the title incredibly appealing.

    Cover by Linda Huang.

    Unusual color choice, eye-catching type, the explanation point! But, of course, it’s the illustration — and the accompanying speech bubbles — that take it to the next level. Bonus points for both the hooves balanced on the “K” and the treatment for the pull quote.

    Cover design by Zoe Norvell.

    That yellow, the blackletter title and unusually-spaced author play perfect — and curiosity-peaking — supporting roles to that painting. Purity, indeed.

    Cover design by Jonathan Pelham.

    What’s he pulling on, now? (Also, the title/author treatment.)

    Cover design by Daniel Beneworth-Gray based on a concept by Daniel Fresán.

    Cropped to perfection.

    Cover by Suzanne Dean.

    The first of three UK versions in a row: this title lights it up.

    Cover design by Tom Etherington.

    The US version of this title was in last year’s list, but this UK version is equally strong — in an entirely different way.

    Cover design by Kate Sinclair.

    Another UK version, another winner. Love the typography. Bonus points for the homemade emoji.

    Cover design by Arsh Raziuddin.

    All kinds of goodness nested into this one, from the title treatment to the slight fading in the tears (which continue on the back cover).

    Cover design by Jon Gray.

    From the green to the typography to — especially — the illustration, this cover weaves a tale from 1434 straight into our brains.

    Cover design by Adriana Tonello.

    The disembodied bits. ’Nuff said.

    Cover design by Beth Steidle.

    I feel for the rabbit.

    Cover by David Drummond.

    Speaking of empathy for the animal: this slim volume of poetry is perhaps an all-too-real sign of the times. (The cover, too.)

    Cover by Luisa Dias.

    Pink Rabbit, slightly dirty: there’s a quality to this that grabs on and won’t let go. (Thankfully, it’s the first in a series….)

    Cover by William Ruoto.

    The opposite of the above, yet still bloody good at capturing attention.

    Cover by Jack Smyth.

    1968 called, with the perfect cover original of the moment.

    Cover by Zak Tebbal.

    “Do a cover on sacrilegious theft,” someone said. Saint Nick brought us a gift.

    Cover by Holly Battle.

    Hard as one might try, topping this might never be possible.

    Cover by Pete Adlington.

    This UK title’s cover does so much more than it has any right to. Brilliant. (Bonus points for the grain.)

    Cover design by Suzanne Dean. Art by Anton Logov.

    Another gem from the less-is-more department. (Also, the paper texture and slight aging on the lettering.)

    Cover design by Lynn Buckley. Art by Damilola Opedun.

    There’s something about this that just works. Take a moment to read this LitHub intro instead of listening to me.

    Cover design by Lucie Kohler.

    Overstays … in your brain. Very nearly put this at the top of the pile.

    Cover design by Suzanne Dean.

    The energy in this cover is fantastic. But it’s what’s under the cover:

    Paper art by Nathan Ward. Photos courtesy of LitHub.

    The printed cover, too. Awesome.

    Cover design by Jenni Oughton. Art by Noah Verrier.

    Leaving aside the notion that Americans can recognize a Big Mac on sight, even when idealized/stylized — beautifully — like this, it’s the perfect compliment to this title.

    Cover design by Tyler Comrie.

    Farcical dystopia, embodied.

    Cover design by Tom Etherington.

    Unsee the face! (Bonus points for superlative typography.) Battled with Chimera and Rough Trade for one of the top spots.

    Cover design and illustration by Vivian Lopez Rowe.

    Reflections, indeed. (Also, color.)

    Cover design by Sukruti Anah Staneley.

    “Prod the bitch that is Life and become her.” These thirteen linked stories demand a cover that leaps off the shelf and grabs you.

    Every year, there’s at least one title that so incredibly well illustrates how that notion works here in the US versus in the UK, and this year, it’s this one. I really like the above — the color’s awesome, and those teeth! — and believe it’s exactly right for the US market.

    Cover design by Luke Bird. Photography by Graciela Iturbide.

    But for the UK market … that photograph. (Bonus points for the title treatment.)

    Cover design by Na Kim.

    Watercolor perfection. Competed with Chimera and Point Line Plane for the one of the top spots. (I felt only one illustration-against-plain-background cover should be at the top. Might have been wrong.)

    Cover design by Jamie Keenan.

    The title treatment, the ink author’s name, and the photograph alone would be compelling. But … wow.

    Cover design by Amanda Hudson.

    From the illustration-makes-it dept. (Bonus points for the not-quite-halves.)

    Cover design by Tom Etherington.

    Paper and color, oh my.

    Cover design by Luke Bird.

    Yeah, it’s a cookbook. Who knew? Also:

    Quadrille unfortunately didn’t return a request for the photographer’s name.

    Bonus points for the fantastic photography within.

    Cover design by Sarahmay Wilkins.

    This would work perfectly well on the vertical. But it’s so much more this way.

    Cover design by Perry De Le Vega.

    Definitely amongst the 1%.

    Cover design by Jamie Keenan.

    Someone chose not to butcher. Except…. (Extra points for the apron strings.)

    Cover design by Kelly Winton.

    I’m a huge fan of a photorealistic collage, but this, interleaved with the title, defines superlative.

    Cover design by Robin Bilardello.

    In a world of algorithms, proof that creativity and talent are so very human. (Also, color.)

    Cover design by Jaya Miceli.

    That awesome green, the color-burned title treatment, the hand lettering, the texture — all add up to top-flight attention-getting. (Bonus points for the entomology illustration/hint.)

    Cover design by David Pearson.

    The swan’s pose of contemplation, indeed. (Also, color — perfect.)

    Cover design by Holly Battle.

    We all know a George.

    Cover design by Beth Steidle.

    So much more than just a pet rabbit. (Also, color.)

    Cover design by Suzanne Dean. Illustration by Jialun Deng. Painting by Takaya Katsuragawa.

    This cover had me at “uncertain walls.” (See also: End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland.)

    Cover design by Jaya Miceli.

    Never mind that this shade of yellow seems to be having a moment, let’s talk about that photograph: the goal of any cover is to peak your curiosity. And we have … win.

    Cover design by Diego Becas.

    A collection, indeed. (Also, color.)

    Cover design by Lauren Peters-Collaer.

    Ink gets blotted out. (Also, paper.)

    Cover design by Jack Smyth.

    Never mind the brilliance in the middle — the four pull quotes are, quite literally, the end of the rainbow.

    Cover design by Derek Thornton.

    Cultural and emotional shifts through technology, as expressed in (cover) art.

    Cover design by Oliver Munday.

    At the risk of repeating myself, no one does more with less than Oliver Munday: this level of white space deserves an award.

    Cover design by Luisa Dias.

    The eyes are eclipsed only by the rising magic dust. (Also, screening.)

    Cover design by Jonathan Pelham.

    Another where the US and UK express things differently; the UK’s, above, is brilliantly simple and simple in its brilliance.

    Cover design by Sarah Schulte.

    While the US version is more while still “less” in the big scheme of things. A two-fer.

    Cover design by Kelli McAdams.

    Text blocks do. (Also, awesome art.)

    Cover design by Arsh Raziuddin.

    Get lost in it. (Also, the article peeking out on the left.)

    Cover design by Beth Steidle.

    Reflections, torn asunder yet so lovingly smoothed out and preserved for posterity.

    Cover design by Tom Etherington.

    Two-color, geometric brilliance, given center stage.

    Cover design by Ben Prior.

    “Self-seeding wind / is a wind of ever-replenishing breath,” the title poem reads, but it’s the cover that drops the ultimate clipping. (Also, placement of “poems,” appropriately.)

    Cover design by Jaya Miceli.

    “Heavily textured” has never read so well.

    Cover design by Alica Tatone.

    I’m not sure what the illustration on this cover stands for — desert, sea, paths taken or not, or something I don’t or even can’t understand — and perhaps that’s why this design works on so many levels: an enigma that requires further exploration.

    Cover design by Beth Steidle.

    Cuddly in just the right way.

    Cover design by Kimberly Glider. Illustration by Cory Feder.

    “An affair with an arborist could result in a cutting,” I chose not to say. Wait. (Also, the accompanying cover.)

    Cover design by Emily Mahon.

    Geometry, color, content: this cover’s been promoted to the actual story.

    Cover design by Tyler Comrie. Photograph by Matt Eich.

    Photograph, texture, photograph, title treatment, photograph. (Also, the subtle shadowing in the author’s name and previous title.) Another very nearly at the top.

    Cover design by Kaitlin Kall.

    From color to art choice, this is a masterpiece. But those bite marks … aaaah!

    Cover design by Holly Ovenden.

    Tripping on a quest for a Bomb: yes.

    Cover design by Tyler Comrie.

    Tripping on a quest for Utopia: yes.

    Cover design by Alex Merto.

    The eyes, the fur … and the horns. Transcendent.

    Cover design by David Mann.

    Something not to talk about … yet, so remarkably expressive.

    Cover design by Angela Maasalu.

    Never mind anything else: it’s the fingernails.

    Cover design by Nicole Caputo.

    Just when you think these eyes have seen it all…. (Also, the typography.)

    Cover design by Alicia Tatone. Art by Shannon Cartier Lucy.

    “Dryly witty” describes more than just the text within. (Also, the title treatment … and “Mormon mommy bloggers.”)

    Cover design by Mary Austin Speaker.

    Surround yourself, feel, and bring great typography.

    • • •

    A moment of self-criticism, if I may: comparing this year’s list to the 2023 favorites, I can’t help but notice there’s a bit too much of the same. For myself, for my clients, and for my readers, I need to work on being too much inside a comfort zone. (Apparently hypocritically, in the 2023 summary, I commented on “sameism” being a thing.)

    Meanwhile, again like last year, I’d like to highlight Dan Wagstaff’s comments over at The Casual Optimist:

    A recent article on Spine argued that there is a battle between minimalism and maximalism going on. I think that could be true. Different approaches work for different audiences. But I also think it’s messier than that. I get the sense that publishers are less sure of what they want and what sells (certain genres notwithstanding).

    It has been a rough year for a lot of publishers, so there is undoubtedly a lot of uncertainty, and no small amount of anxiety. I could go on about why that it is (and the publishing’s self-inflicted wounds) but, in short, what I think we’re also seeing with book covers is more meddling and less direction.

    — Dan Wagstaff, The Casual Optimist

    I’d read that Spine article, too, and generally agree with their argument that, “This is not just because designers have different ideas about the best way to cut through the noise, but because they are ultimately trying to appeal to two different types of readers. […] It is the designer’s job to know how to grab the attention of the specific readership that the author is trying to reach.”1I have point out: one of their minimalist examples, One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, is a 2025 title already in the favorites folder. Stay tuned.

    The buyers that minimalist and the maximalist covers appeal to don’t always overlap. But they do appear next to one another on shelves, actual or virtual. For one just perusing, it’s possible for the volume, whether minimalist or maximalist, to dissolve into noise. Dan’s right to caution.

    Thankfully, the designers on this list have battled the committees bent on mediocrity and overcome with great talent, great design, and great perseverance.

    My best wishes to them — indeed, all of us — in 2025. It has all the hallmarks of another interesting year.

    How this list was compiled

    My selections stem from books I’ve seen in person; the “best of” lists from NPR, The Guardian, and the BBC (among others); and the best book cover lists from Spine, The Casual Optimist, BoingBoing, Creative Review, PRINT, and LitHub. (Shout out to LitHub’s 50 Biggest Literary Stories of 2024, too.) Please check all of those, and enjoy — a great many more outstanding examples of book cover creativity await.