Exit A
Author Anthony Swofford
Designer: Timothy Goodman
Publisher: Scribner
Typefaces: Helvetica, FFGothic
I've been a long time fan of Timothy's work, he gives great attention to each project he's involved in. When I saw his cover for "Exit A", it's boldness immediately drew me in. The concept made me even more pleased with my interest.
—Jason Gabbert
Exit A is a modern day love story about a Japanese girl who is separated from her childhood sweetheart. They meet on a U.S. air base in Japan and eventually they're forced to separate because of the unforgiving tensions between America and Japan. Years later, she finds herself in great danger and the sweetheart embarks on a quest to find her.
My paperback design fell on the heels of a hardcover that had inherent complications. Exit A was Anthony Swofford’s first novel and his follow-up to the best-selling phenomenon, Jarhead. Traditionally a non-fiction author, he had tremendous pressure because it was out of his genre and subject to more critique. Against all odds, it failed.
The process of designing the hardcover was equally difficult. Paul Sahre was originally hired to design it, but after many sketches the publishers thought his—while intriguing and beautiful—were ultimately too edgy, too risky, and without the commercial appeal they had hoped for.
See Paul’s brilliant versions here.
It was finally finished in-house to fulfill their commercial needs.
(John Fulbrook was at the helm of many killed versions, too.)
See the final cover here.
With a failed hardcover on their hands, I knew that when I was asked to design the paperback I wouldn’t be pressured into the clichés the hardcover had: Japanese lettering, big type, fades, the moody and hyper-real photography, etc. Instead, I used five quotes, a small picture of a Japanese girl, and separated them with black rules to evoke a sense of detachment and isolation that the story contains.
Furthermore, I was pushing for it to be a stepback. I wanted the viewer to experience a dense, wintry cover that contrasted against a sexy, vibrant image of the Japanese girl inside. I was very excited about this idea coming to fruition. It became the whole purpose of the cover. However, the publishers felt that the low print run and the additional stepback cost wouldn’t be practical for a book that wouldn’t sell.
So we have a cover, in my eyes, that is only halfway finished.
3.30.09 // Ian Shimkoviak said:
This cover has stopped me a number of times at the bookshop. The graphic boldness and compartments are what got me. Often we see covers that use full bleed photos, but this is so far removed form that in how it plays with the title etc, that it's bound to grab the eye.
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4.02.09 // Anonymous said:
Anyone: what is a stepback image?
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4.02.09 // Jason R. Gabbert said:
A stepback is where the front cover is trimmed a bit short on the edge, exposing the image directly behind the cover. In this case, the front cover would have been trimmed to show the image of the woman (last image). So, the stepback image would just be the image shown that is directly behind the cover.
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4.02.09 // Anonymous said:
Thanks Jason; I agree now that would have been sweet but can also see their concern re: extra cost. Really enjoy your site ... love the weekly update format too so it doesn't get I don't know mundane. Thanks for explaining. I'm a newbie to book design!
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4.02.09 // Jason R. Gabbert said:
No problem! Thanks for visiting!
