I've been neglecting this blog recently, which I feel very guilty about, especially as it recently got a mention here on The Manchizzle, Manchester's very own "hub of blogging goodness."
However, this is partly because I'm still trying to work out the legality issues around using book cover images and illustrations on a blog. I suspect in the US this would be covered by Fair Use, but I'm not entirely sure of the position here in the UK, and from experience I know that publishers have different policies when it comes to use of images - even if you're just using them to accompany nice things you want to say about their books. Anyway, apologies if things are not looking so pretty around here at the moment while I'm sussing it out.
In the meantime, if you're feeling the need for some book-related visual loveliness, here are some book design sites I've recently discovered that may just fill the gap.
Covers is "dedicated to the appreciation of book cover design", and brings together a very comprehensive selection of book covers of all kinds for debate and heated discussion. It's the brainchild of Fwis, a US design firm based in Brooklyn, NY and Portland, Oregon. (Is it just me, or does it seem like Portland is totally the place to be at the moment? I think I need to go there - check out how cool their Independent Publishing Resource Centre is, for a start!)
The Book Design Review is a well-established book design blog written by Joseph Sullivan. As with Covers, Joseph documents book covers of all kinds, and there's not much here specifically focussed on visual art books or catalogues, but it's an interesting place to read about book design in general.
Similarly, Première de couverture is a blog exploring "the fascinating world of book cover design" authored by Montreal bookseller Thomas, who describes himself as a "curious (in every sense of the word) young man who always judges books by their covers." Thomas mainly posts about paperback fiction covers, and lovely, lovely Penguin books in particular (more on Penguin to follow) and has some great images to browse.
Meanwhile, I'm off to the Liverpool Biennial opening later this week, where I'm sure I'll find lots of inspiration and books to covet, so back soon with more, I promise!
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