Twitter Motivational Poster of the Day #8: Art Criticism

Today on TMPD, we’re going to be reviewing the book cover for Tim Maly’s new book.

The art is eye-catching, if not original. Echoes the widely distributed paperback version of Middlesex by Jeffery Eugenides, and a particular Joy Division album cover are fairly present. Still, regular readers of TMPD will know that I am a big fan of minimal, flat shapes, InDesign gradients, and simple, retro-looking fonts. Also, although I often force myself to use color, I can’t help enjoying the simplicity of grey scale. 40% and 70% white over black give a very classy, thin ghosting effect, reminiscent of the Twilight Zone, somehow.

Not sure how this design relates to the subject matter of the book. I do like the island silhouette motif–its a repeatable icon that could be used in branding or as chapter headers in the text. But are the different takes on the outline meant to stand for certain utopias discussed in Maly’s authoritative treatment of utopia’s afterlife? Or are they simply meant to be variations on a theme–signifying the epistemological category of utopia in general, or the critical approach Maly employs in bringing them all together in context? Those who have already read the book, or are seeking it out by name, will be aware of the prose on its own merits. So is it really necessary to overload the cover with line drawings of “network” imagery? Perhaps a simple dust jacket with the title and a bit of color would have been more appropriate. But, the goal of the cover is to sell the book–so clearly that is what the publisher intends with this approach.

Unlike such important books, no doubt destined to be canonical, art appeals or doesn’t appeal to many different aesthetic sensibilities. So, feel free to download the PDF and judge for yourself.

[Note: the PDF has some rendering issues that I haven't had time to figure out. So sorry for the weird dashed strokes that appear in certain places. If you are indeed downloading this for any reason.]