Over at The Millions this week, they compared the U.S. vs U.K. covers of recently published books. I always thought it interesting in principle to design different covers to reflect different cultures for the same book. What memory one design may spark in an American would certainly be different than in a Brit. And sometimes, I am far more in love with the British cover than the American one.
Above, on the left is the American cover design for The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes; on the right is the UK version. For Alfred A. Knopf, New York, long-standing art director Carol Devine Carson created the design. She has designed such other iconic (or at least well-recognized) covers such as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, Heat by Bill Buford (a personal favorite), and Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking.
And once again I prefer the British. I’m very rarely compelled by an American cover with someone on it that I do not know. I’d rather have something creative and graphic as opposed to some random gent.