Rating: 5/5
Disclaimer: I received a free copy via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.
As a book lover, this is probably a must read. When I say book lover, I mean more than just reading a lot. There is an appreciation for the appearance of the book from the cover to the layout and fonts used. It's a love for the medium itself and not just the content of the pages. I am prefacing my review with this information because this book is about the design of the Penguin classics books, focusing on the cover art.
After reading this book, I feel a little like my process of preparing to read and review it is similar to how many of the illustrators approached the cover designs. I received this book a while back and I was excited to read it. But instead of getting down to it, I put it off. Eventually, I read little bits of it. Just enough to feel like I was making progress. Then I was getting this nagging feeling like I just needed to get it done. Unlike the artists, I didn't have someone at Penguin emailing me asking when my review would be finished.
The book just blew me away once I made time for it. Almost all of the covers are just gorgeous. There is such a range in the styles and complexity of the illustrations and designs that were used. A few books I recognized immediately from the cover without even seeing the title. It also introduced me to some books that I had never heard of. There are more subsets of classics lines at Penguin than I would have imagined existing. Some are quite broad, while others are narrower in scope.
Throughout it all is Paul Buckley's voice overseeing the projects. Paul is an art director for Penguin, and has worked there for a long time. His input on the titles such as how the artists were chosen, various designs that were tried, and the influence that drove the choices are all fantastic. This is balanced out by input from the illustrators and some other members of the Penguin art team. There is enthusiasm and love for books on every page.
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