I will say one thing: before even opening the book, I am not drawn to the cover. Being a designer by trade, I'm one of those visual people who almost always judges a book by its cover (in the most literal sense, not using the phrase metaphorically here). If a book has beautiful or interesting cover art, I'm more likely to pick it up! And I'd be willing to bet the general public mostly agrees (otherwise, they wouldn't pay people like me to design eye-catching covers). Obviously the author's name and reputation speaks for itself, but I'm surprised that since its original publication in 1972, this book hasn't had a little refresher. The color scheme (teal green, neon yellow and fuschia?) screams 1970s to me. Does anyone agree? Even the muted alternative featuring the same still life (shown below) seems a little bland. The opportunity to make this cover a work of art really is hidden! I may have to take on a personal Hidden Art re-branding project as the reading commences. :) Stay tuned for my post reviewing the first chapter of The Hidden Art of Homemaking!
Great intro!
ReplyDeleteI have taken that approach in previous book club. that is of talking about the book cover and table of contents etc BEFORE actually delving into the meat of the issue.
Here's that link
http://hiddenart.blogspot.com/2011/01/book-clubimagination-knowing-that-its.html
Yes, I think HA cover needs help ;-|
My copy is an old yellow hardback without art since the dust jacket is long, long gone. :) Welcome to the book club!
ReplyDeleteGood point...odd cover for the book isn't it? What is really saying??? I do like the color of it, but what would be better? Now that might be fun...to see what sort of covers those participating in the book club would come up with.
ReplyDeleteYes! I've never articulated my thoughts about the cover as well as you have, but I wonder if that's why I've let this book sit on the shelves for so long? Maybe one of our first projects as a book club would be to recover it with something pretty...I have tons of scrapbooking paper and fabric. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to joining you in the book club conversation!