Re: RARA-AVIS: Gateway Publishers

From: Jeff Vorzimmer ( jvorzimmer@austin.rr.com)
Date: 20 Jan 2006


Interesting observations about the design of the Black Lizard books--and right on the money. There was an amazing transformation in the design of the covers when Vintage bought them out and Keith Sheridan started designing the covers of those same titles.

I think the Hard Case Crime novels suffer from exactly the opposite design problem. They have great illustrations and poor typography. The type is too thin on most of their covers and the titles get lost. On most covers the title is too small and set in a bad choice of colors. On several covers the title tends to disappear into the background.

To be fair, though, there are some excellent covers--Top of the Heap, Fade to Blonde and Girl with the Long Green Heart and most of the titles coming out this year. And of course, the illustrations are all top notch. I just wish they would loose the cursive, calligraphy font of Grifter's Game and The Confession.

Jeff

Kevin Burton Smith < kvnsmith@thrillingdetective.com> wrote:
  << The over-riding design of the covers, though -- the torn edge black/grey hook and the bold, italic white sans serif typography -- was distinctive and quite good.
>>

  That was the odd thing about Black Lizard books -- stylish, but wrapped in amateurish art.
  - Duane Spurlock

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