THE DREAM OF PERPETUAL MOTION
Author: Dexter Palmer
Designer: Ervin Serrano
Art Director: Michael Storrings and Steve Snider
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Typefaces: Images pieced together by designer. The type is made from details of a locomotive.
Images: Stock Images
Specials: Printed on a metallic stock.
Genre: FICTION
When I first saw this cover I was blown away. All I could think was, How did he do they type? I love this cover. It looks great in person with the metallic stock. Thank you to Ervin for sharing with us. —Charles
How did you become a book cover designer?
It sort of just fell into my lap. I didn't really consider it while I was studying at SVA. My major was Advertising. I was interning at HarperCollins Publishers and a position was offered to me after I graduated, and I accepted. I think it was one of the best choices that I've made. I really what love what I do and can't think of anything else that would be as rewarding as designing book covers. It's kind of nice when you go to a book store and you see your work on a shelf for everyone to see.
What do you enjoy about your job?
I enjoy the challenge. You constantly have to change your way of thinking with each cover that you design, since each cover is pretty much it's own entity.
What is the book about?
Take elements of the movie Brazil and then imagine a novel written by Jonathan Lethem or Kelly Link and you would get something like THE DREAM OF PERPETUAL MOTION… It's about a greeting card writer who is working on his memoirs. It's also about the mechanical men that are commonplace in the world in which the greeting card writer lives. And the industrial magnate who turns out to be the protagonist's nemesis and who slowly loses his mind over the course of the novel. And the tragic tale of the magnate's daughter, with whom the greeting card writer falls in love. And there's the artificial desert island that takes up an entire floor of a skyscraper, and some other things of that nature that are best read about, rather than explained.
Were there any constraints from the client?
Nope, I pretty much had absolute freedom.
Were there any steps taken before you started designing?
Yes, I had sketch it out first. I had to do a bunch of layouts with simple type before I came up with this solution. It was important to make sure that it would work since it would involve heavy photoshop work.
Did the project have any unique struggles?
It was the image research. It took a while for me to find the right images to use until I finally bumped into detail photos of locomotives. They had all the right parts to make the type work. It was also the photoshop work. I think this was the most that I've done in my entire career.
What would you say makes this an effective design?
I think the cover clearly communicates what this book is about. It has all the interesting elements from the story done in an eye catching way.
What’s something unique you learned while working on this project?
That photoshop is my best friend.
4.29.10 // Michael Kellner said:
The design is clearly a knock out, and I imagine it's caught the eye of every cover designer. The typographical solution is unexpected and yet right on the money for the book's content. I'm especially impressed by the depth achieved by contrasting the coppery typography against the sort of dark or blackened steel or iron of the background, while employing imagery throughout. There's no dead space anywhere, and no idea either unapplied or misapplied. The photograph might have been left out I think, but not really to the cover's advantage. It's another layer of content and interest and it's used with great care and economy. Everything surprises, and everything works. Cheers.
4.29.10 // Ian said:
Here here, Photoshop has saved many days for me. Think you need to set up an elaborate photoshoot etc etc? Think again. PS can do more than you think. Work it.
Great cover. Who knew type could say steampunk so well? Massimo didn't.