Judge the book by its jacket

The Times’ Philip Oltermann goes for the tried-and-true in his piece on what makes for a good book jacket, but sometimes the expected makes for good reading nonetheless, pointing out that “a good jacket reveals something about the content of the book: it hints at the basic plot, maybe even gives us a glimpse of the main characters. A very good book jacket re-creates the spirit of the book. A great book jacket, however, is so arresting that it makes you pick up the book in the first place.” To that end, Oltermann talks with Penguin UK art director Jim Stoddard about the nitty-gritty of book design, cover concepts and final results for the reissue of Ovid’s THE SERPENT’S TEETH.

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