“The Other Publishing” is my thesis project and its main aim is creating the visual identity of a publishing house, approachable to the general public and especially readers in the 20s, 30s and 40s, as well as presenting a sample of its book collections.
I find the way most people see literature and how they choose what books to read, fascinating. Are their criteria a matter of taste or merely the results of an exceptional marketing strategy? How can the opinions of others influence their decision when they are pondering whether to buy Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot” or “50 Shades of Grey”? And last but not least, if the books a person reads in their life are divided into the ones they “have to” read (for school, work, etc.) and the ones they “want” to read, how can a publishing house urge them to “want” to read more? The Other Publishing answers these questions in a sarcastic way.
“TOP 5” COLLECTIONS
For the past decade, the internet and social media trends have been shaping our sociopolitical views, as well as our taste. There is no company nowadays, that does not use trends, such as top 5 lists, as marketing tools.
In the field of publishing, although they use top 5 lists, in order to promote certain books, especially on their websites, they have not really taken full advantage of these trends. So, I decided to create four “Top 5” book collections with humorous titles, that appeal to today’s reader, who can appreciate sarcasm.
TOP 5 BOOKS TO MAKE YOU LOOK COOL ON THE SUBWAY
When we see someone read on the subway, our first move is to see which book they are reading. But how do we judge their choice? We have a different image of someone who reads Harry Potter than that of someone who reads One Hundred Years of Solitude.
This collection includes well known books with great reviews, books that the general public consider cool. In terms of design, I wanted to focus on typography for this collection. The titles are big and eye catching, just what someone, who is trying to see what you are reading so that they can judge you later, needs!
TOP 5 BOOKS IF YOU ‘RE TOO LAZY TO WATCH THE MOVIE
It is so easy to find movie lists on the internet, like “Top 5 movies to watch when you are too lazy to read the book”. Publishers have been making great use of the fact that a book was turned into a movie, in order to promote it, to the point that they even use the movie poster as a book cover. This collection does the exact opposite, because there is a reason why “the book was better”!
In terms of design, I have followed a clean, almost minimal aesthetic for the covers of this collection. The design elements, which change in each book cover are important for the plot of the story.
TOP 5 BOOKS TO IMPRESS ON THE THIRD DATE
In western pop culture the third date is the first time you visit the house of the person you are interested in. Looking around their place, in order to figure out whether you made the right choice this time or not, their books catch your eye.
This collection includes famous classic novels. The illustrations on the covers were made by hand – a classic technique for classic literature! The typography, simple and elegant is highlighting the illustrations. This collection is the only one out of the four, the book covers of which do not include the collection title, in order to maintain its reliability. When you are trying to impress on a date, it is probably best not to let the other person know!
TOP 5 BOOKS ABOUT THE ABSURDITIES OF LIFE
A collection of existential novels could not be missing from a publishing house, whose entire identity is inspired by existentialism. The title of the collection refers to the Absurd, the main concept of existentialism.
For these book covers I chose to go with digital collages of photographs taken by photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson. There is nothing more existential in the field of photography, than the “decisive moment”. Thus, all the book covers include at least one photograph taken by Bresson. Finally, the choice of colors on the covers was made ironically, since the covers of these novels are usually dark and moody. Most people view such books, as serious and heavy, while completely overlooking the fact that these existentialists had and exceptional sense of humor!
