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08-017.
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08-017. Paul Rand
Exile and the Kingdom book cover
Borzoi Books
USA, 1958
5.5 x 7.75 x 1"
Bound paper
Manufacturer's mark
There is a little hole-in-the wall bookshop here in Champaign that never ceases to amaze me with what I can find there. It seems that each time I visit come home with at least a couple new titles to add to my small (but growing) collection of modernist book cover designs. Today I actually had to pass up several other titles in favor of the two best. Unfortunately they were not thrift store prices, but these books are becoming more and more rare to find with their jackets intact ... so I had grab the best for what I could afford (in this case, the hard covers with jackets), and hope that the remaining paperback titles I left behind will be there later waiting for me when I return.
Paul Rand's cover designs are, simply put, amazing. Their simplicity, typographic strength, and frank symbolism all add up to make book covers that cannot be ignored. Rands simple typographic treatments are especially evident in this cover for Albert Camus' Exile and the Kingdom cover. The entirety of the design consists of two typefaces, a surprising grid layout, and a background featuring Rand's signature use of a torn paper motif. But even though this is a motif he uses often in his work, it makes symbolic sense in the context of the book's content. This, in my opinion, is the mark of genius at work.
Found on May 21, 2008 in Champaign, IL.
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