Anothter David Pearson interview

Interview with David Pearson by Peter Terzian

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Five years ago, Penguin Books launched the Great Ideas series, which excerpted world-changing works of philosophy and belle lettres packaged as pocket-sized paperbacks. The typographic covers, designed by David Pearson, then a recent graduate of Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London, were nothing short of dazzling, with lettering contemporaneous with the classic contents debossed on a pristine white background. The series helped to usher in a new era of Penguin design and brought new attention to British book design.

Collection of spines for the Great Ideas series.

Pearson has gone on to design three more rounds of Great Ideas titles for Penguin, as well as such spin-off series as Great Journeys (travel writing) and Great Loves (short love stories) and a nifty line of “Popular Classics,” thrift editions with minimalist covers that sell for two quid each. Last year, he left a full-time position on the Penguin design team to start his own firm. (He still keeps his hand in with his former employer: a new set of Great Ideas was released in August.)

Cover and spine for Treasure Island, published by White's Books. Illustrated by Stanley Donwood.

One of his newest projects is White’s Books, a boutique publisher of deluxe hardcover editions of classic works of literature. The bright, colorful covers are the handiwork of some legendary contemporary illustrators, including Radiohead cover artist Stanley Donwood’s take on Treasure Island (above), textile designer and Hockney muse Celia Birtwell’s Wuthering Heights, and Pearson’s own edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets and poems. The publisher released its first four titles were released last year, and expects to produce about eight titles a year. The company is also hoping to tie up a deal with a US distributor quite soon.

Cover for Emma, published by White's Books. Illustrated by Amy Gibson.

White’s Books is currently preparing to release new editions of Emma (illustrated by Amy Gibson, above) and a selection of Sherlock Holmes tales (illustrated by Michael Kirkham, below). We recently exchanged emails with Pearson as he was redesigning backlist titles for Cormac McCarthy.

Peter Terzian: Can you describe your role at White’s Books?

David Pearson: White’s Books is currently two people: [publisher] Jonathan Jackson and myself. This is largely to reduce start-up costs but also so we can focus on the detailing of our books and make sure the small number of titles we produce are created to the highest possible standards. I always intended my main role within White’s Books to be that of a commissioner. First and foremost, I wanted to employ illustrators that I admire and—for very selfish reasons—have always wanted to work with. My skill-base very rarely extends to illustration and, even then, I wouldn’t say it's a particular strength. So once the cover grid was decided on it felt right to send the real work out of the door. This may well be wishful thinking but I think we offer a genuinely attractive brief, if not simply because the only people to approve the work are Jonathan and myself. We are also in the unique position to ask our illustrators to work up something to the point where they are happy, thus removing many of the obstacles found in trade publishing.

Cover of Ralph Waldo Emerson's Nature, as part of Penguin's Great Ideas series.

What’s your vision for White’s Books?

Due to the arrival of eBooks, many prophesied the death of the printed word, but we see it as an opportunity to turn the spotlight back on the traditional methods of book production and to luxuriate in the craft and tactility of the physical book and the printed page. It’s lovely to be designing with longevity in mind as we aim to create objects that will be retained and cherished by their readers.

Cover of Albert Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus, published as part of Penguin's Great Ideas series.

How would you describe the White’s Books aesthetic?

Our general look consists of a non-repeating pattern that has a certain narrative flow to it. We are in a position to offer the entire cover to our illustrators and I am interested to see how their artwork shifts as it deals with three different surfaces—back, spine and front cover. The finishes applied to our covers are very traditional and lend themselves to a certain kind of mark making, so where possible, we urge our illustrators to adopt similarly traditional methods to generate their artwork. For example, Petra Börner produced a paper cut illustration for us, Joe McLaren worked in scraper board, and Stanley Donwood worked in lino—all mediums that correlate with the very defined marks of foil blocking. We give our illustrators approximately a month to create final artwork. We then wrap it around a cloth-bound case, printing with a combination of PMS colors and foil blocking. Internally, illustrative endpapers and a decorative title page are joined by a rather unusual text setting method rarely seen in the last hundred years. Each right-hand page sports what is known as a catchword: a hanging word that provides the opening of the following page. We believe that this aids the flow of reading, especially when using a larger, heavy page with a slow turning rate.

Cover of Sigmund Freud's Deviant Love, published as part of Penguin's Great Loves series.

Does your work at White’s allow you to explore areas of design that you weren’t able to at Penguin?

Since the cover artwork is farmed out, I am afforded the time to revisit my original occupation—that of text designer. Setting books is a wonderfully calming and non-competitive profession. In fact, I seldom receive any kind of critical feedback for my work unless, of course, it is done badly. The same cannot be said for cover design, for which every man and his dog seem to have an opinion. As with any job, variation is the key to a happy and prolonged working life and my time with White’s definitely helps provide that.

Cover, spine, and back of L'Univers, published by Éditions Zulma.

Can you tell me about the work you do for Éditions Zulma? Very few of the authors in the series are known to American readers, and I’m wondering if you can explain what kind of books these are.

Éditions Zulma are known for publishing fairly progressive works of contemporary fiction and as with most French paperback books, they retail at a fairly lofty €15–20.

Cover of Leo Tolstoy's The Kreutzer Sonata, published as part of Penguin's Great Loves series.

How does the design complement the texts?

Pattern-based covers feel like a good fit for works of fiction. I really struggle with the idea that book covers should have a distinct voice. In many ways I think a book cover should do no more than titillate, leaving the blurb—and reader—to do the rest. I don’t think it should be down to me to reveal what the chief protagonist looks like, nor to imbue a piece of photography with a meaning for which it was never intended. Typographic or pattern-led covers challenge the reader to project meaning onto them, which feels entirely more sympathetic and—luckily for me—the French publishing industry seems to embrace quietly suggestive cover designs.

Cover of George Orwell's Why I Write, published as part of Penguin's Great Ideas series.

Penguin just released the fourth Great Ideas series. How has the design of the series evolved over time?

Speaking from my own perspective I'd say that I’ve loosened up as a designer. Looking at my earlier efforts I think I was rather inhibited and it wasn't until I brought in Phil Baines that I could see the true size of the project's potential. Phil added pace and variety through his very bold, expressive designs and this made me realize that I too could let my hair down a little.

Cover of Edward Gibbon's The Christians, and the Fall of Rome, published as part of Penguin's Great Ideas series.

Many of your designs are for books that are produced in series. Does working with titles in a series complement your personality?

I’d probably put this down to my text design background. When I embark on a setting job, I tend to make decisions based on the accommodation of variables. For example, when settling on a heading style, I would have to consider both the largest and smallest heading lengths before creating a style for the common—rather than the specific—good. This approach can quickly become habitual and has resulted in my often creating overarching frameworks within which to work. It is true that my working life has been filled with series designs. I certainly enjoy developing them, but I would also hope there exists a prevailing typographic theme as this is my main area of interest.

What single book cover that you’ve designed are you most proud of?

An op-arty cover for the French publisher Zulma, for a book (above) titled Comment va la douleur? It was one of my first for the company and I remember feeling incredibly liberated by the freedom they afforded me. More crucially perhaps, it didn’t take me very long and so I didn’t have time to develop a deep loathing for it. Also, the author, Pascal Garnier, kissed my hand and did a little bow when we met recently. That felt really good.

Cover, spine, and back of Contrebande, published by Editions Zulma.

Besides White’s Books, what other projects are you working on at the moment?

At the minute, I'm busy repackaging all of Cormac McCarthy’s novels for Picador [UK]. They're shaping up to be typographic covers so I'm very happy. It's also nice to be working with a living author for once!

Cover of George Orwell's Decline of the English Murder, published as part of Penguin's Great Ideas series.

What do you do when you’re not designing?

For years I have been an avid book collector and have recently been applying the same rigorous application to a collection of single-malt whisky. I'm also a football fan but unfortunately support the worst team in the league, Grimsby Town. Like almost everyone in England, I used to be a semi-professional footballer but gave up when I realized I would never be anything more. That said, should my team plummet through the divisions at their current rate I should be in line for a call-up in the not-too-distant future.

Read more at PrintMag.com: Interview with David Pearson
For great design products, visit our online store! MyDesignShop.com

Format of the book?

3 Minutes is the second publication from non-profit organisationDesigners Against Human Rights Abuse (DAHRA) and the second collaboration between DAHRA and Tibet Relief Fund.

The premise of the book is to show the full extent of the Tibetan conflict through 10 diverse and extremely powerful 3-minute interviews, each describing the 3 minutes that changed their lives. This idea is reflected in the covers of each booklet, which separately make beautiful abstract covers but together form to make a ‘3’.

Contributors were asked to translate these minute interviews into 16 printed page booklets using primarily typography. The result is a book made up of 10 beautifully designed booklets from some of the world's best designers showcasing considered and stunning typography.

The contributors to this project are Bibliotheque, Brighten the Corners, Stefan Gandl (NeubauBerlin), Alex Haigh (Thinkdust / HypeforType), 
Nick Hard (Research Studios), Jeff Knowles (Research Studios), Abbott Miller (Pentagram), Si Scott, 
Paul Skerm, Un.titled

Editorail/ Book Design, The OK Review

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Editorial/ Book Design, The OK Review: Issue No.001
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The Oklahoman Review is a publication of the Oklahoma State University English Department. The magazine features poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and visual arts from university students and faculty from around the region. I was given full creative freedom to create the image of the publication and this was my resulting solution. I wanted the magazine to be immediately eye catching, have an edgy feel to it, and to make people want to flip through and take notice of each featured work. If you are interested in purchasing a copy for a mere $5.00, contact the English Department at Oklahoma State University (405) 744-9474.

Paper folds, to contain large imagery into a small publication

Another idea

This didn't work out how I intended.

Vector typographic design for DVD collection

Designer Ryan Tym
After recently purchasing a badly designed Alfred Hitchcock
DVD box set, I set to work on creating my own collection of
original covers. Each design features an iconic image related
to the film it represents and includes a bold typographic
title. I also created the reverse cover for each DVD.

Jason Ramirez, St Martins Press

Interview with book cover designer Jason Ramirez. “Jason’s the best,” he said. “Any time I’m stuck on type, I try to imagine what Jason would do and work from there.”

And when you look at Jason’s book covers you know what he means. A designer at New York’s St. Martin’s Press his typography is always beautiful. Each elegant letter is given room breath and perfectly compliments the design as a whole.

There is, in fact, an irresistible incisiveness and precision to Jason’s work that lend all his book covers an airy beauty. They feel spacious and uncluttered; direct without ever being blunt. I’m sure it won’t be too long before more designers ask, “what would Jason do?”

Jason and I corresponded by Twitter and email, and you can see more his portfolio on the Behance Network.

How did you get into book design?

I pretty much took a roundabout way into book design. I first went to college in upstate New York with the intention to eventually study medicine. Four years later, after a near-fatal rendezvous with organic chemistry, I graduated with a degree in comparative religious studies. I spent the next few years in San Francisco working for a real estate investment company, first in human resources and then in marketing and branding. It was during my stint in marketing and branding, which introduced me to the design world of San Francisco, that I began to daydream about a move to the city of New York to study design. Eventually I worked up the courage to make the move and was accepted to Parsons School of Design. During my last year at Parsons I had the good fortune of taking a book cover design course instructed by Gabriele Wilson. Pretty much from the onset of the class I was hooked. Shortly after graduating again, I began working with Rodrigo Corral and continued for a bit over a year before landing at St. Martin’s Press.

How long have you been at St Martin’s?

I’ve been with St. Martin’s Press since November 2007.

Approximately how many titles do you work on a season at St Martin’s?

I work on anywhere from ten to fifteen new titles each season, across four different imprints: St. Martin’s Press (trade hardcover), St. Martin’s Griffin (trade paperback), Minotaur (mystery) and Palgrave-Macmillan (which is actually an academic and trade publishing company; a close cousin to St. Martin’s).

Is there a house style?

No. One of the terrific things about working at St. Martin’s is the variety of titles published each season. Working across genres provides an opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to each project.

Do you also work freelance?

I’ve had the opportunity to work with a few publishers including, Atlas & Co., HarperCollins, Oxford University Press, The Countryman Press, W.W. Norton, and Vintage. I’ve also dabbled in a bit of interior book design with the talented design and publishing duo of Scott & Nix (Charles Nix and George Scott).

Could you describe your design process?

My process may vary depending on the project, but I always begin by reading. I try to read as much as possible of whatever materials are available, be it a manuscript, proposal, or synopsis. Depending on the subject matter, additional research might be needed. Not to mention that a bit of scouting for related imagery and typography can often inform and inspire. I tend to rely heavily on a sketchbook to record notes relating to the content and meaning of a book; ideas about imagery, typefaces and colors; and thumbnail sketches. And from this hopefully a clear, clever and attractive idea will prevail.

What are your favourite books to work on?

I appreciate the opportunity and challenge to work on various genres. Though I often tend to be drawn to non-fiction titles such as academic and business-oriented subjects. The conceptual challenge to visually simplify complex and comprehensive subject matter that might not be immediately accessible to a reader resonates with me.

What are the most challenging?

Any project has the potential to be challenging. Sometimes a project that I expect to be relatively easy to nail will prove to be the most time-consuming, requiring multiple rounds of revision. The challenge in this situation can be sustaining a fresh approach throughout multiple iterations, as well as mitigating your ideas with the opinions of others involved.

Do you have any recent favourites?

Two recent favorites include, Gabriel García Márquez: The Early Years, a biography that charts Márquez’s life leading up to the publication of his classic, One Hundred Years of Solitude; and Glimmerglass, my foray into the burgeoning young adult paranormal genre. I’m also quite fond of two relatively recent freelance projects: Power, a business management book about leadership and management success; and The Triggering Town, a collection of witty and inspirational essays on writing and poetry.

Where do you look for inspiration, and who are some of your design heroes?

I will take cues from popular culture, be it the daily headlines, magazines, music, television, movies, and the internet. On any given day, I might find inspiration in a post in my Twitter feed, from a thought-provoking illustration within the New York Times, by thumbing through a design or art book, or simply from a conversation had with a friend or colleague. And I’m almost always inspired when inside a book store.

I admire the work of Paul Rand, Alvin Lustig, Vaughan Oliver, Stefan Sagmeister, and Michael Bierut, to name a few. But the reality is that there so many visually creative people, both inside and outside of publishing, whose work I admire and find inspirational.

Who else do you think is doing interesting work right now?

There are many smart and talented designers working in publishing today who are consistently creating great jacket design such as Rodrigo Corral, Evan Gaffney, John Gall, Jamie Keenan, Peter Mendelsund, and Gabriele Wilson.

What are you reading currently?

Admittedly, at times I can be a bit lazy. So aside from finishing the lingering manuscript, scrolling through my Twitter feed, or browsing my Netflix queue, it’s not surprising that I’m reading an outdated issue of New York Magazine, inching closer to finishing The Glass Castle which I began last summer, and randomly reading excerpts from the Autobiography of Mark Twain.

What does the future hold for book cover design?

This is the great unknown. I prefer to believe that the physical book will survive alongside the electronic book. That said, as technology evolves, additional possibilities may be created for book cover design in a digital form. In the long-term perhaps the digital book, both the content and the artwork used to package and identify it, will become multi-dimensional and interactive so that a reader might have the ability to navigate through multiple layers of storytelling. Or maybe I’ve seen one too many Harry Potter movies … I guess we’ll have to wait and see.