Marvel Visionaries | Redesign

'...books needed to look attractive in order to encourage shops to display them to advantage, they must be sold beyond the traditional outlets such as bookshops, and, to keep the projected price low(sic), the sales of each title must be large because the profit margin would be so small.'

Sounds quiet apropos doesn't it. Sounds like someone has stolen the first chapter of in the Book of Woes | Comics. They didn't. This is from the introductory chapter of Penguin by Design written by Phil Baines, describing the gut feeling the Lane brothers followed in founding Penguin Books in 1935!

This is exactly how I feel about the state of Comics and their design. I am not talking about Indie and Small Press. I am talking about the big boys, namely, the Distinguished Competition and Marvel. 

Every chorus around comics is sounding with versus pertaining to market penetration. How do we break out of comic books shops and into big box retailers and book stores outside our regular circulation? Prior to that past two weeks events, which I won't talk about cause they have been covered by far more educated men and women, I think Darwyn Cooke in an interview with iFanboy put it best, "why the hell would you make a book that looks like a comic(in more or less words)." His goal behind the design of Parker was to basically trick to the stock boys into putting it in with Crime Fiction. I think it worked. It's been on/was on the Times Best Seller list for a few weeks. 

If the founders of one of the finest publishers in books, and one of the smartest men in comics agree, then well, I think we might have a good sense of direction there. 

If I take visual stock of my shelf now, I see madness. If I was not already a comic fan, this would be incredibly intimidating. There is no visual organization or hierarchy to guide me.

I think comics, and let me preface, from here on out, when I refer to comics, I am referring to TPB(Trade Paperbacks-for the uninitiated, collections of story archs) & HCs, need to push themselves in a direction of a traditional book publisher.

MARVEL VISIONAIRIES REDESIGN
=====================================

I tasked myself with a redesign of the Marvel Visionaries series. For a number of reasons; 

- it is a series I am familiar with.
  - it is a series I recently purchased.
  - it is a series that would easily find exposure in a further extended market.

BRIEF
=====================================

Create a design that is both clean, concise, and able to be executed at a number of different price points using print methods. I had to also bear in mind, the paths these creators have blazed before them, and to maintain the respect and admiration they are rightfully deserving of. 

As it is a series, the designs had to have legs beyond one offs, while maintaining each subject artists' integrity

For starters I used Big John Buscema's Visionary book as a starting point.

Buscema's recently released Visionary book

This book cover does little to entice me to purchase the book. The typography does little to distinguish title form subject, and the Marvel Visionaries speaks louder to me than the artist.

 The spine of the book leaves even more to the wanting palette. The artist should carry more weight than the publisher, because, if you are correctly conveying your brand through consistent layout and design, people will know they are purchasing a Marvel book, or a DC books, or any book for that matter. Special series should be characterized by departures from the norm, not the departure of style, being the norm.

The back of the book gives me no depth as to why this artist was interesting, gives me no blurb to why I should purchase this book, it merely lists collected work by the artist. Again, how is this useful to someone new to comics. It's not at all. These books seems to have been produced to build off of an artist existing fan base, these people are all ready your fan base...makes no sense. 

The quality of this book, and the epic subject nature makes this a keen introductory books. First thing I will ever do if my niece or nephew wants to read comics, would be to buy a Ditko, Buscema, Kirby, Eisner, Kane, and Caniff book of this quality, and introduce them as you would any other artist interested in a medium, with the masters.

THE GOODS
=====================================

OPTION 1
-------------------------------------

Rework Option #1

This was my first pass at the design. As you will see in both options (the second you will see below), there are some beats I pick up in all the designs. I cleaned up the informational hierarchy on the covers. Replaced the boldest piece, Marvel Visionaries, with the artist names, as these books pertain directly to the artist and are a vehicle for their work. Second, I made the covers an engaging and iconic representation of the artists work. I explicitly maintained the large halftones to give the book an air of history. 

I also took the language in a direction that added more clarity to the subject of the book, namely, Collected Works. For someone not familiar with these books, you need to tell them, this is a collection of work, not a book with chronological stories. 

I cleaned up the typography introducing only one typeface with multiple weights to give it a sense of unity, not switching to condensed type which is basically like using another font, I think.

I also introduced the number series cause I think this could sell to the collectors. It makes them a set. It makes it have a beginning, and for all intensive purposes, and end. 

The only other major addition I added was the inclusion of a bio about the artist. This was included on the original version, but, on the dust jacket wrap, not on the outside. Most of these books are now sold in cellophane, to maintain the integrity of the printing? That serves little good in pitching someone on why this book is important. 

This version featured more classic slab type and harked back to the air of historic value of these books.

 

Option #1 Working Comp

OPTION 2
-------------------------------------

 

 Rework Option #2

The direction I took in this option was basically the same information wise. I did instead choose a sans serif type for a modernistic feel, meanwhile incorporating the faux belly band, to lend that feel of historic importance. Both of these devices, the belly band, and the circle in the previous version, act as a poor man's cartouche to frame the book information in a way that is visually separated but not disconnected from the visuals.

 

Option #2 Working Comp

 

Working Comp Shelf Appeal

EXTENDED DESIGN OPTIONS
-------------------------------------

Beyond these two options, I quickly worked up examples of Jack Kirby's book so you could see how this would be executed with other artists in mind.

 

Kirby Rework Option #1

Kirby Rework Option #2

Kirby Rework Option #1 Working Comp

Kirby Rework Option #2 Working Comp

I honestly don't believe the simple idea of a book design can save an industry alone, but it can be worth it's weight in gold in distinguishing a publisher from it's competitors in sense of execution, and in shelf appeal, which is HUGE in roping in a new buying. Unfortunately, most books are judged by their covers. Come on, you knew I was gonna throw that one out there. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for reading.

Comments

[Jennifer Juniper]

I think these designs are pretty cool. I will say, though, that while the volume numbers appeal to collectors who want the set, they turn off those that don't WANT the whole set. I am one who, while I might ONLY want the Buscema book, would be bothered by having only Vol. 5 on my shelf. Especially when they are not actually related. (Like 5 Volumes of Captain America is one thing, but 5 Volumes of the Visionaries don't actually follow each other.) Also, I'm pretty sure bookstores tend not to like things like that b/c then they feel they might HAVE to keep stock of a certain volume even if it sells poorly.

Also, I like the spine on the one with the stripe around, but the other one is a bit boring to me. BUT, with the stripe design, I think it didn't work so well on the Cap book, looks weird covering up his face.

Lastly, the blurb bit being on the flap of a shrink-wrapped book is 100% true and something we realised eventually. Now pretty much all of our books have the blurbs on the back now! :)

[stephaniebuscema.blogspot.com]

These look fabulous. I really admire what you've done with both the text, color and design of the books-you're bringing something classy and timeless to the collected edition. Text wise and compositionally, it's working well and not only are you bringing something to the table with the layout-you are doing justice to the creators...something that's constantly over looked and ruined with "bells and whistles". You lose the gist of who the creator was, the time period their work was made (with bad text choices) as well as the characters they illustrated.

Your color choices are wonderful in that they're limited. So many of these books tend to look extremely garish and overdone. Poor color choices are constantly being used (esp. in comics) in a way that isn't appealing to the eye or potential client/reader. We don't need every complementary, spilt complementary and triadic color from the color wheel presented on these books to suggest it's comic related. Visually, a book like this would not just look nice on a bookshelf it would look great on a coffee table. I'd say 99.9% of my collected editions (which are by the truckload, as you know ;) ) are thrown on a bookshelf due to their overwhelming design/color/poor text choices, which in turn make your eyes hurt terribly. I hope you get the opportunity to bring justice to these books one day, as I know John would have been thrilled with your covers honoring his work.

Thanks for the solid work on these!

[Rob Harrigan]

Wow! Thanks for the feedback everyone!!

Jennifer,
Thanks for taking a look. I would have preferred more aimed feedback on the actual design executed, but you do raise some valid points. As per the number of the collections, I would have to disagree, just because this is fantastic collected edition. I think you want to incentivize the collecting of them.

It is a basic retrospective of Marvel comic history. Just like any Penguin Special Edition, they should be presented as a cohesive unit, especially from the design perspective. It alleviates design inconsistencies and build a visual association of all the volumes. I think maintaining that need takes higher precedent than personal tastes.

I think this also speaks to the one spine design being boring. It's not boring. It's clean and consistent, these design have to be though of, as I said before, a cohesive family unit. If you lined all these show-ponies up, with either design, and you would get something that is clean, clear, and beautiful to the uninitiated as well as the comic fan, and would live as a veritable billboard to the Ppublisher Brand and the individual artists.

I can someone see what you feedback on the Jack Kirby Captain America version. The reason I decided on that layout, was namely consistency. I decided Macro focused art was mimicking the version of the Buscema art as well as the fact, it is terribly engaging. Because of the close focus on the eyes,' Captain would literally be peering out from the bookshelf with this almost grin on his face. I wanted it to be a bold direction. It was a brave choice and I stand by it.

I really appreciate you taking time out of your day and giving it a look.

Stephanie,
If you think Big John would have approved, than I am totally in. I'm glad your pleased with them as you know your opinion means the literal world to me.

I really appreciate all the feedback and I am absolutely floored by the response.

[NoonThirty]

Gorgeous Work. I especially like the Cap cover, messing with the iconography is very hep.

[Dylan]

As a fellow designer, I'm always a little disappointed with how bad most comics look and how flippin' ragtag they end up looking when placed together. It bugs the ever-living crap out of me that my Essential FF volumes spine's don't match up because they redid the covers and tweaked the dress between volumes 3 and 4. And don't get me started on mastheads. Or Marvel's lazy 70th anniversary stuff. (Apologies if anybody reading this worked on it, but it looked like a house ad from 1983, not a milestone.)

Anyway, on to the critique:

In general:
Love the options presented. Think they're exciting, vibrant and mysterious. I like the Criterion Collection feeling of the numbering and the desire to collect it creates. The logic with the blurbs is right on and dang sexy in both concepts. I think both of your concepts fit within the stuff Chip Kidd's been doing over at DC lately with the macro-view on the artwork, splitting imagery, etc. Which is great, and you use it well, but I was sort of hoping for something a bit more original in one of your directions. Just a thought.

Option 1:
I like your reasoning and think that the front cover, spine and blurb area are all working well. The front cover, that big black space, I'm not sold on that, (maybe too big? Just seems to work against the dynamic image above, more so in the Thor shot than the FF one) but it's working well enough to let it slide. The back cover though, I'm not feeling it. Just seems unfinished.

Option 2:
I like this one better of the two, but again, the back covers don't get me all lathered up. What if the image from the front wraps all the way around? Or if scale got played with a little bit more? The Cap image is slightly larger than the visual space created by Cap and the Red Skull, but not enough to make it *really* interesting. And the Surfer/outer space juxtaposition aren't clicking for me like at all. I like the tinted band on the spine a lot and I'm with you on the Cap peeking thing.

Anyway, there's my 2¢. Hope it's helpful. Both solutions are very well done, BTW. Good work.

[Rob Harrigan]

Dylan,
Now that was the feedback I was looking for. THANK YOU! It was worth way more than 2 cents. I agree with everything you said. As per the forced Captain America on the back. I admit, I was a bit limited in what I could scrounge up around my house to scan. Most of the art of any quality I have reprinted Kirby wise, was either 1. B&W, which I prefer or it was terribly recolored. The original colored covers I had in reprints were mostly lackluster. So definitely agree.

The back cover I flat-out did not spend as much time on as I just wanted a "visual sketch." Thats why I built no comps of the back side. I think many more man hours would be spent scouring for appropriate images and perfecting layout. In hindsight, I would have liked to blow up it up a bit more with some variation on type sized, pulling the last name from the front and building a bit more of a dynamic layout around that.

As I said, I really really appreciate this feedback Dylan. It was intelligent and informed. Thanks so much!!! It's also great to know that people get as irked but their unmatched Essentials as I do.

[Dylan]

Rob,

No problem. I figured these were quick explorations. And I love giving and receiving feedback. I figured you'd want more of a back-scratch than a back-pat. Came here from Chris Haley's RT/link. Love the blog. Not nearly enough focus on design in comics. I'll be around.

Thanks,
Dylan

[Torsten Adair]

Option 2: The tiny Mavel logo on the upper corner is small and misplaced. It would be better placed on the band, perhaps perpendicular to the text, near the spine. Viewing just the spine, the black void looks out-of-place. Perhaps place the colophon and volume number there, directly below the name.

Considering the name... what happens when the name is longer than the space you've alloted? Do you move the band lower? Won't that affect the standardized spine design?

Option 3: Take the band from #2 and make it the bottom black rectangle of Option #1. Use that space for any text, leaving the upper section pure art (similar to the black Penguin Classics trade dress).

Since these are Visionary volumes, the back cover art should feature characters different from the front cover. Keep the spine black, no graphic.

Question: How do you handle the spine and title of the second volume of Jack Kirby?

[Rob Harrigan]

Torsten,
Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate your perspective.

Let me address your concerns:

As for the logo on Option 2, I would disagree with the notion that it is too small. If printed, it is in bright red. In the grand scheme, that bad boy is gonna scream at you from afar. Thus why I balanced it smaller in size. Grid wise, the logo is ruled out in the same visual rhythm I have established throughout the rest of the layout.

With the name size, the same thing would happen as would with any set distant layouts. I would slightly reduce the type size and increase the letter-spacing as needed to maintain the same visual spacing, no moving the band at all.

Your option three sounds like a really great option. One of my mental goals I was I really wanted to avoid the heavy top and heavy bottom layouts. Thus why I didn't do something of that nature. I wanted stick with something visually centered, more or less, just kind of the boundaries I set for myself.

I also agree with your feedback on the art. I was really really limited to art choices as to what I have around my apartment. Buscema's work I have a plethora of reprints, as for Kirby, much tougher time as a lot of the art I have for him is older editions of essentials. Not necessarily the reprint quality I was looking for. I would have to caution though, the images would have to absolutely match in tone, and color. We want to avoid the idea of having to cram every character these artist ever worked on, and get the same ridiculous color explosions we get on books.

A second edition of a single artist is a tough nut. As Jack does have more than one, I had entertained the idea of iconography for artist. Not characters, but a K.O. mark of some sort, perhaps a small (very small, don't want them muddying things up) portrait. I would hire Michael Cho to create these (as I am "art directing" this, that man does KILLER portraits) to help visually separate the different volumes of one artist, meanwhile helping to identify them from the pack, subtly.

I hope this helped to clear things up. I really appreciate your perspective, it is feedback I had never thought of. And I hope to hear form you again. Thanks.

[James Figueiredo]

Hi, Rob!

I just discovered your blog, following a link from The Beat blog, and I'm floored. Instant addition to Google Reader!

Love your redesign concepts for the Visionnaires line, and I totally agree that A LOT more care and work could go into designing those books. I think Dylan hit on some pretty good points about the design and, personally, I'd go with the second option. The Buscema book, specifically, turned out AWESOME, very, very impactant and would completely catch my eye in a bookstore.

Best,
J.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=743393876]

I really think that comics, like movies, suffer from lousy graphic design right now. The only thing you've got to sell a movie or a book is its packaging and yet time and again some of the most boring layouts and awkward, cluttered designs carry the day. And I feel like almost all the reprint collections from the big two companies are just so tired. It's nothing that would look groovy on your bookshelf or cool on your coffee table. For the most part, they're embarrassing.

So it was great to see you take this on. Both designs are nice, but Option #1 really sells me in a way Option #2 doesn't, although both have their appeal. I'm actually in love with Option #1. The only thing that I disagree with entirely is your idea that the blurb on the back cover should be a bio. Copy has to sell a book, it has to sell John Buscema and Jack Kirby to people who may have never heard of them before and only picked up this book in the store because it looked so cool. It needs to rock their socks off and tell them, in 150 words or less, why and how John Buscema and Jack Kirby changed the way the world looks and I don't think a bio is up to the job.

[Rob Harrigan]

Wow!! I'm glad I took a vacay day so I can respond to everyone!!

James,
I agree. Dylan was spot on in his critique. There is a lot more now I am kicking myself for no including, "should have done that, should have done this...can't believe I did that" (as designers, we toil, we obsess, we suffer for our work, then we put it out in the world and we cringe. hah) But that's why this feedback is so great! I hope to hear from you again. I'm *really* pleased you liked the blog. As I said a few times on comments, all these great comments and feedback. I hope people slowly come to realize that these things can be breathtaking.

Grady,
I totally agree with your assessment of the pop world, comics, movies et cetera. I *totally* agree with your feedback on the copy. I have a confession to make, I think Jack Kirby's copy was from Wikipedia, and the Buscema copy is from the actual Visionaries book. I'm not that strong of a copy writer. I can speak about things I know, namely design, but writing sales copy is not my talent at all. I think it is my aversion to advertising. So I commend your acuteness. We played.

Thanks everyone!!! I'm extremely overcome with all the feedback and reactions.

[Grant Goggans]

I really enjoyed reading this and thinking about how you made your choices! I'm not much of a designer, so I don't know that my feedback will be as valuable as the others you've received, but I believe both approaches have positives and negatives. I really do like that circle on the front cover, and think it looks just terrific on both your examples, but I don't believe that the faded-n-flipped image on the back works at all. I used to be asked to make bootleg CD covers for various Yahoogroups and mailing lists, and that was actually the default solution I would use on those occasions I didn't have enough material to choose from. What it says to me, as a buyer, is "didn't you have any other color Thor Buscema images you could have used?"

(Don't let that detract from just how much I love the front cover, and your simple, classy choice of fonts in the circle. That really does shine, and it's streets ahead of anything that Marvel's done.)

I prefer the back covers and the spines of your second option examples, but wonder whether the back cover might have a black text box under the belly band, in case the buyer removes it, or it gets ripped off in the store. I mention this because I was at Barnes & Noble this evening, just marvelling at the damage dealt to various books with unusual packaging, like McSweeney's # 13, its wraparound all mangled and torn up.

I would agree with Jennifer that the Kirby cover just looks weird with Cap's face partly obscured that way. It's a bold idea, and it works quite well on the Buscema example, but when it's covering up the art, it just looks like the sort of thing us fan critics would complain about when we write up our reviews.

I would also agree with Grady that a bio is not necessary on the back cover, but a sales pitch is. Perhaps there could be a proper bio of some length somewhere inside, or on an interior flap?

[David Beard]

I love the idea of the redesign, although I have two thoughts:

1. I love the Buscema designs, although I do wonder whether I love them because they echo (as another poster noted) the Chip Kidd look. But I do love them.

2. The noseless Cap bugs me, not impresses me, but that's beside a larger point. The Kirby designs reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of Kirby's work at Marvel. (You may be too young to have read any of that stuff as it came out, so it's excusable, maybe.) To represent Kirby work through a headshot is like representing the lunar program by showing a photo of Kittyhawk. There is a relationship, but you're missing the point! Kirby is about dynamism, panel-busting, wholly impossible foreshortening, and a seething energy (sometimes misunderstood as "Kirby crackle"). To pick head shots for the cover of the Kirby editions is to doom the jacket from the beginning.

I salute you. (I think you picked a volume that wasn't too terribly bad to begin with, and you managed to improve it substantially. That's showing real talent.) But for the Kirby, speaking as a regular reader of the JKC and speaking as someone who grew up with Kamandi, try again!

David