YOU CAN FINALLY SEE HER UNMENTIONABLES: Reimagining classic book covers
Two weeks ago, Venus Febriculosa published the results of its Lolita cover redesign competition. Participants—in keeping with post modernism’s underlying tenant—were asked to recontextualize Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 classic. John Gall, the man responsible for the lips (and the typography) on the 50th anniversary edition of Lolita, judged the contest.
He selected, ultimately, Lyuba Haleva’s design, which, though featuring “arguably anachronistic…imagery and typeface” communicated “the novel’s poetry and Humbert’s high-minded yet deluded pursuit of fantasy and art.” In my opinion, Suzene Ang, a Singaporean, constructed the most compelling image—a sort of cubistic, up-skirt illustration with the title and by line descending Lolita’s thigh.
In related news, if three years late, I saw this week a post that Slate put up back in May, 2006. They commissioned major designers to reinvent the jackets of classic novels, utilizing a pulp aesthetic. Random House might have been well advised to adopt John Gall’s (yes, the same John Gall) updated Animal Farm cover for their Centennial Edition. A blonde woman, bound with rope, half naked, being stalked by a leopard? That’s an image worthy of George Orwell’s centenary.
