Jill Russell Loves the Book Cover Archive

By Jill Russell
Published: July 2nd, 2010 | 12:00am

Launched and maintained by two web wizards, designer Ben Pieratt and programmer Eric Jacobsen, the Book Cover Archive is a site that beautifully marries two of my truest loves—reading and graphic design.

It’s intended “for the appreciation and categorization of excellence in book cover design,” but also gives some much-deserved recognition to the multi-billion dollar publishing industry’s unsung heroes. Even those who haven’t read David Sedaris and Evelyn Waugh are familiar with them, but what about Chip Kidd and Kelly Blair? Not exactly household names.

While such artists who dream up the all-important book jackets won’t likely ever get the accolades and attention foisted upon authors themselves, the Book Cover Archive at least gives them some props. The site links to portfolios of some of the most notable cover designers of all time and includes a blog with industry news, job openings, and miscellany—thankfully throwing some humor into the mix, too.

The archive is put together so well that any appreciator of the written word could easily lose hours clicking around. I like to keep my Goodreads queue open to add new titles as I browse, because even though I shouldn’t judge books by their covers, I often can’t help myself.

Jill Russell is Venus Zine's editor in chief.