We’re very happy to have Rick Banks contributing to ‘Book Lovers Favourite Covers’ this week. As well as being an award-winning designer and owner of the F37 font foundry, Rick is the co-curator of the book ‘I belong to Jesus’ and the man behind the incredibly successful ‘Football Type’.
Here he discusses (one of) his favourite covers and what makes it so successful for him…
“Just like how I can’t say what my favourite movie is, I can’t pick out a favourite book cover. I would normally pick out a ‘cool’, obscure old book but I’ve gone with a relatively new one; ‘Fifty’. It was published (2005) in celebration of Diesel’s founder Renzo Rosso’s 50th birthday. The book celebrates Diesel’s creativity, attitude and philosophy and is beautifully designed by Barcelona based Vasava.
I remember my sister kindly bought me the book for my birthday (probably with a nudge from me!) when I was a student. I was amazed back then and still am by the level of production and attention to detail. It’s one of the most luxurious books I’ve ever seen. The oversized book comes in a gold limited edition box. You open it up to find the book wrapped in a thick plastic dust jacket with a beautiful ‘Fifty’ ambigram embossed in gold. The actual book features a lovely angular ‘Fifty’ typographic illustration. Of course, this isn’t just printed using standard techniques. The illustration has a textured flock, with a UV varnish, printed in the negative space.
It’s not just the beautiful packaging and book cover which I love. Every single spread is different, well designed and thought out. The number of print processes (gatefolds, special inks, pop-ups etc) involved is staggering. The sheer production of the book is phenomenal and has inspired my book designs.”
Rick Banks
Face37
Here he discusses (one of) his favourite covers and what makes it so successful for him…
“Just like how I can’t say what my favourite movie is, I can’t pick out a favourite book cover. I would normally pick out a ‘cool’, obscure old book but I’ve gone with a relatively new one; ‘Fifty’. It was published (2005) in celebration of Diesel’s founder Renzo Rosso’s 50th birthday. The book celebrates Diesel’s creativity, attitude and philosophy and is beautifully designed by Barcelona based Vasava.
I remember my sister kindly bought me the book for my birthday (probably with a nudge from me!) when I was a student. I was amazed back then and still am by the level of production and attention to detail. It’s one of the most luxurious books I’ve ever seen. The oversized book comes in a gold limited edition box. You open it up to find the book wrapped in a thick plastic dust jacket with a beautiful ‘Fifty’ ambigram embossed in gold. The actual book features a lovely angular ‘Fifty’ typographic illustration. Of course, this isn’t just printed using standard techniques. The illustration has a textured flock, with a UV varnish, printed in the negative space.
It’s not just the beautiful packaging and book cover which I love. Every single spread is different, well designed and thought out. The number of print processes (gatefolds, special inks, pop-ups etc) involved is staggering. The sheer production of the book is phenomenal and has inspired my book designs.”
Rick Banks
Face37
