Of course the fate of the planet is not what this blog post is about. This blog post is about the cover design of the book.
The many editions of the book have had a lot of variations, while still keeping with original hardcover design using Franklin Gothic Extra Condensed with black, white, blue elements. And, to make the design work, the designer breaks up the word "everything." Gutsy. I can't find who designed the original cover. But kudos to you, cover designer!
The cover eliminates the author's name and puts it -- and the subtitle -- on the back cover. Very striking.
The spine is also pretty great. This would only work on a book of considerable page-count.
Then, the paperback version beefs up the author presence on the cover at the expense of the title impact, but it still works. Note that "everything" is restored to one word.
One could argue that the distribution of the colors could be more effective, but the design is so strong, it works just about any way you mix and match. Like this.
Here's a possibility.
And another possibility.
And here's a cover that uses the subtitle. It mentions the movie. It also touts a recommendation from the New York Times. With each added element, the cover loses a bit more of its appeal. It's starting to look like every other book cover design.
Finally, there's the documentary movie made from the book. The movie poster is by Shepard Fairey, and while it has nice elements, it's a real letdown from the book design. The symbol of the burning earth -- while not an original idea -- is effective. But when surrounded by other symbols and frankly ineffective type design and awful color choices (I have to say that these colors work well for other Fairey designs), the poster could use some help.
I played around with the poster and made an in-between version -- holding over some of the book colors and typefaces.
Better? Probably not. But I had to try.
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