Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 is gorgeous in more ways than one. My review will be in next week’s Mercury, but in the meantime, here’s super-designer Chip Kidd talking about the hardcover (which, like a whole lot of books Kidd’s designed, is pretty impressive to look at and to hold). As ebooks continue to gouge away at old-school bookstores, I expect/hope publishers will start taking the exterior and interior design of dead-tree editions more seriously. Maybe not like Chip Kidd-level seriously, but still.

Via Suvudu.

With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.

5 replies on “Book Porn: Chip Kidd Shows Off Murakami’s <i>1Q84</i>”

  1. Yeah, I’ve seen this. Clear cover, big faces, would’ve been pretty impressive a few years ago. Perfect if you want to scream “I’M READING MURAKAMI ON THE MAX!” which I assume many readers do.

  2. I looked at the book again, and the cover is more complex than I had noticed earlier, though still not entirely to my taste. I’ll stand by the second sentence above, but maybe my self of 12:42 PM should’ve just rested his fingers quietly. Fucker.

  4. @grady: No, I’ve examined the actual book. The design is clever, but maybe I’m jaded; I handle hundreds of new books every month. Also, I usually prefer slightly more understated and quirky European-style cover designs. But as you can see in my second comment, I realized belatedly that maybe I shouldn’t have commented at all on this matter. Consider this additional comment an expanded recognition of that.

  5. how is it that america’s foremost graphic designer is using an apple monitor from like 7 years ago? i knew shit was bad in publishing, but not that bad.

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