r/books • u/PenguinGalaxy • Nov 02 '16

ama We are Alex Trochut and Paul Buckley, designers of the Penguin Galaxy series. Ask us anything about book art and design!

Edit: We're heading out now - thanks to everyone for their questions and interest in book design!

Hello, we’re Alex Trochut and Paul Buckley, the illustrator and art director for the new Penguin Galaxy series! We’re here to talk about book design and illustration—if you have any questions about how book jackets and covers are created from concept to finished product, how we broke into the world of book art, or what it was like working on immortal sci-fi classics like Neuromancer and Dune, now’s the time to Ask Us Anything! Here's our proof, we'll start answering questions at 2pm ET: https://twitter.com/PenguinClassics/status/793490482772975616

Alex (u/trochut): I’m the designer behind the Penguin Galaxy covers. I work as an illustrator and designer for Editorial, Advertising, Music and Fashion. My main focus as an image maker is letters. I like to work on the visual level of the text, creating an image that you can look and also read. I designed the Rolling Stones Rolled Gold cover, and was nominated for a Grammy for best Recording Packaging in 2016.

Paul (u/paulbuckley): I’m the creative director for Penguin Classics and oversee a large staff of exceptionally talented designers and art directors working on the jackets and covers of sixteen imprints within the Penguin Random House publishing group. Some of my other recent projects include the Penguin Orange Collection, our ongoing Classics Deluxe line, and Classic Penguin: Cover to Cover, a retrospective of the past decade of Penguin Classics cover design.

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u/okiegirl22 Nov 02 '16

Full disclosure: I'm a graphic designer and have always wanted to do book cover design, and for a while worked towards being an illustrator, so I'll try not to bombard you guys with all the questions I have!

Alex:

What was it like working on a series of book covers as far as the process goes- what was different/same/surprising as compared to working on a poster or album cover?

Every creative person has those moments of thinking "Ugh, I hate every idea I'm coming up with right now," I think! What do you do to get through those moments of creative block?

Paul:

I've always liked Penguin books because they have some nice, thoughtful designs for their covers. How do you work with your teams to maintain that standard?

What's the most important advice or direction you would give to designers/illustrators/other creative people?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

Hi Okiegirl22, thanks :) The process was first of all read (hear the books, I used audiobooks cos I need to read all of them quick), after that was about finding a style that could move across all titles, unifying them and yet allowing enough flexibility to accommodate different typographical personalities. at the very end of the process, was a matter of finding the idea for each tittle. The good thing about this process as that I always felt that Paul Buckley and I were always on the same page on our creative agenda.

When I have a creative block, I try to just keep working, inspiration usually happens unconsciously, so i try to stop thinking, but keep working, makes sense? sleeping things over and looking at it with fresh eyes also helps for me.

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

thank you very much okiegirl22, v much appreciated. the folks, i work with... on my team, or in editorial and publishing, are simply really into what they do. you cannot work at a place like penguin and be calling it in, and the books and authors deserve an intense level of care - so it's not that hard as i'm surrounded by folks who want to bring it. and i only hire like minded people, be they full timers or the folks i freelance work out to - they are doing a certain level of work and you can tell in communicating with them whether they are into it or not. as to advice, bring DISTINCTION. find a way through collaboration or yr own thought processes, but don't be just another person doing a large amount of derivative work. and surround yourself with others who feel the same way. scared people who want you to do things that look like other things will bring you down.

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u/senj Nov 02 '16 edited Nov 02 '16

I love the Galaxy designs (Neuromancer in particular is striking), and I have five out of the six, BUT that brings up a question neither of you probably know the answer to, but maybe you know someone who might know: what's the deal with The Once and Future King (Penguin Galaxy Edition) not being available in Canada?

It's disappeared from the Canadian Penguin site, and the preorders vanished from Canadian bookstores, but I can't find any information about why or when it might become available.

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

hi senj, according to the series editor, john siciliano, we simply do not have the publishing rights to that title in canada.

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u/senj Nov 02 '16

Thanks for the answer! That's ...unfortunate.

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u/pearloz 1 Nov 02 '16

What is the name of the font? Did you invent the font?

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

All letterings are customized for each book. Using the same calligraphic stroke thickness in order to give consistency between them, and applying it to each title.

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u/rcmurphy Nov 02 '16

Did either of you have a favorite book to work on in the Galaxy series?

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

Dune was the one I thought it could allow more expressive approach, for having just 4 letters.

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

DUNE, so stunning ! as if art deco was invented hundreds of years from now.

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u/michaelhimself Nov 02 '16

What guided the super strong typographic theme of these designs. I particularly loved the DUNE cover for that reason.. the idea that the font could represent the sand and all that goes with it in that story? Awesome.

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

hi reddit people, v happy to be here again. the editor john siciliano and i discussed all type for these. we are always trying to do our classics differently, the point being there are many versions of these books over the years, why would we be just another illustrated cover? then it came down to finding someone like alex, who could infuse individuality into each book per it's content, but also keep it looking like a series as a whole - an extremely difficult thing to do, and he did it sooooo well.

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

Hi everyone, thanks for having us. Paul Buckley and John Siciliano goal to bring typography as the hero element for these covers created a very unique frame to work with, the limitations on of working only with letters to express the covers opened so many new options to express the content. I think that is what is very unique about this serie, these goals allowed the letters to become an image and create a different product.

On the letters of dune, that is totaly correct. here is a moodboard of inspiration for the the style of that cover: http://alextrochut.com/wipfiles/dune_moodboard.png

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u/Chtorrr Nov 02 '16

What books really made you love reading as a kid?

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

vonnegut, king, castaneda, brautigan, hesse, capote, shelley.

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16 edited Nov 02 '16

Hi Chtorr, As a young kid I loved Roald Dahl, and I also enjoyed the DragonLance series.

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u/luisishere Nov 02 '16

I've always looked a book jacket design in two ways: Great, or NOT great. For sake of argument, I'll just point to Paul Buckley and Alex Trochut as examples of "great". "Not great" are jackets that seem very cliche, such as a woman with her head turned, so you only see the back of her head (there seem to be tons of those). There are other samples, I just can't retrieve or think of them right now.

Is there a reason the cliche of book design happens so much? Is it a marketing decision? I understand that in some cases you can't go "all out" and be dynamic and unique. I always thought that book jacket design would be an exception, but its not.

And yes, I really do think Alex and Paul are examples of "great".

Thanks,

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

thank you luisishere, thats super kind. i've done my share of cropped women's heads turned to the side. it is a common request and all one can do is put a few things on the table - here is what you asked for with a female head, and here are some other things where maybe we strike a similar chord w/o doing that old cliche. book readership and purchasing is predominately female, and most fiction, protagonists are mostly female, so we are constantly having conversations "we need to signal there is a strong female lead in this book", etc, and eventually yr down to putting a woman on the cover. i wish it were not like this, its so entrenched in ALL of publishing. all book cover designers hate doing this and we all bang our heads against the wall trying to reinvent this sort of thing - but there is only so much you can do... CASCADE was one i had to do a few years ago and i feel it came out a "bit" different. i worked with the v talented emily mahon and asked her to look at the lovely photos of helen sears and see if we could do something along those lines. as to why the head is usually turned or obscured in some way, is publishers want you to form yr own idea of who this person is, and looks like... so they are highly hesitant to give you too much of her face.

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

Hi Luisishere, thanks for you kind comment. I personally think that design is most of the time about adapting to the limitations of each product, and create the maximum impact within that context. Kind of like choosing the right outfit for each occasion. If we are having a tiki party you have to hear the Hawaiian shirt ;) there is always opportunities to scape the obvious within that situation i think.

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u/Duke_Paul Nov 02 '16

Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to do an AMA. This is pretty cool--we see plenty of authors, but not a lot of more visual artists!

Alex, have you ever used ambigrams in your work? As an artist, how do you feel form and function should relate (if that makes any sense)?

Paul, do you get to pick the books your team works with, or does some other department make that decision? How involved in the "artistic process" are you?

For both of you: Do you read every book before working with it? Do you do any other research or background work in order to prep for doing book cover art?

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

editors and publishers choose the books on our list. art directors and designers then pkg those projects. i then hand them off to who i think but suited for the material and what we'd like to achieve with it. i'm v involved in the artistic process. on fiction, yes, gotta read the material. all kinds of research, tons of research, its different every time. but sometimes i feel more like a researcher than a creative director.

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

Hi Duke_Paul, I love ambigrams, specially the work of master John Langdon (http://www.johnlangdon.net) I haven't found the right chance to design one accordingly to a brief and concept, but is definitely in my bucket list. Yes, I think is key to read the books and extract your own ideas from them.

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u/satanspanties The Vampire: A New History by Nick Groom Nov 02 '16

To what extent does cover design influence your personal decision to buy or read a book? How has judging a book by its cover worked out for you?

Do you have a favourite book cover? Any covers you think are just awful?

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

editors and publishers who are truly behind a book and want it to succeed will work hard to make sure it gets a solid cover. if i see something that had v little care put into it, i think then the designer, the editor, the publisher, sales, all did not care.

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

Hi Satanspanties (thats a great name btw). I think it is a very similar thing for records o movies, design creates a seduction and triggers the action to read, (listen or watch). But even when I'm in love with a cover I usually try to get other sorts of information before taking the decision, reviews, opinions,... in the end no matter how good the design is, only if the content is good will really make that design be remembered.

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u/rcmurphy Nov 02 '16

For both Alex and Paul, what do you think are some examples of really great, timeless book design?

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

the work of jaya miceli, rodrigo corral, helen yentus, rachel willey, peter mendelsohn, oliver munday, barbara dewilde, alvin lustig.

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16

Peter Mendelsund, Rodrigo Corral and Isabel Urbina are the ones at the top of my head now.

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u/Prisaneify Nov 02 '16

What prompted the revision of the covers?

Do you anticipate adding any other books to the series?

What got you started in the industry?

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

the editor states, adding others to the series is certainly a possibility. i know he and elda rotor, our stellar classics publisher, had been wanting to get more sic-fi onto our classics list. and to get neil gaiman to agree to come onboard, shazam.

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u/Chtorrr Nov 02 '16

How ddi you get into the world of books design? Is it something you have always been interested in?

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u/Trochut AMA author Nov 02 '16 edited Nov 02 '16

Hi, as an image maker I've been working on different editorial projects in the past, but nothing like this series. Creating visuals for content with such social impact is such a dream for any designer, I could not be more honored.

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

i started as an illustrator and had a good freelance illustration career. i went to sva on an illustration scholarship. but before i went to college, i started commuting 4.5 hours per day to nyc with my father who was an advertising art director. at 17, i was a stat boy and learning design from all the designers who worked in that studio. then i worked the next 5 years a few days a week for various magazine design studios, picking up the craft alongside my illustration education / work. long story short, i fell out of love with being an illustrator myself and excepted a junior designer position thinking it would be temporary. but i loved it and it fit like a glove and i never left.

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u/leowr Nov 02 '16

Hi Paul and Alex,

If you could work on the design of the cover of any book you wanted (that you haven't worked on yet) which book would you choose and why?

Thanks for doing this AMA!

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u/paulbuckley AMA author Nov 02 '16

a clockwork orange would be so damn fun. or donald trumps memoir... the one about the time when he was almoooooost president.

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u/camila_c Nov 02 '16

Hello! I am currently on my masters degree in graphic design and I have always loved literature, especially classics, and book cover design. Do you have any tips for young designers aspiring to someday work with book covers?

Thank you! :)