1: Due to the recent rise in digital publishing do you think the physical book is losing popularity?
Apparently not. I've read some studies that even though ebooks have risen in sales, so have physical books, so books in general are becoming more popular, which is great. I think eventually the market will settle, and if anything, paperback books will just print fewer copies, since the people who usually wait for the paperback are the ones who have moved to digital readers. The hardcover audience is still buying physical books at almost the same rate.
2: How does this affect your design? Does it influence your approach to designing the physical book?
Ebooks to not effect our design at all, really. The principals are the same: a rectangle with words and pictures.
The only think that effects book design is online selling. Since both physical and ebooks are sold so prominently online, publishers are now aware that a book has to look good at thumbnail size so they are pushing designers to start using larger type, and bolder graphics.
3: Would you find digital books more limiting to design for?
No, not really. Since every book is sold online just as much as in book stores, publishers want the cover to look just as good either way.
4: In contrast to the digital copy, a book is 3D. Do you use this to your advantage in your
design?
Sometimes. If a book is expected to sell a lot of copies, we may emboss the cover, or use a spot gloss or some other texture on the paper. But the design itself isn't really effected by that.
5: Are you interested in the gothic genre of literature? Would you find it an interesting genre to design for?
I haven't really read or designed any gothic literature, but if a job came up I think it would be fun to try. Designers don't get to pick the books they work on, but If I wanted to work on a certain type of book, I would probably contact an art director at an imprint that specialized in that genre.
6: Do you think your individual techniques and the medium you use would compliment the Gothic genre?
I guess so. I like doing symmetrical decorations and decorative lettering, so I would probably be fun to try it out.
7: How do you transfer your illustrations to a graphical format? Do you think any effect is lost through this?
These days I just draw with ink and pencil onto tracing paper and scan it in. Then I color the black shapes and layer them into the final file. Sometimes I even just draw directly into photoshop with my Cintiq monitor. For quick and graphic images I usually just use the cintiq, but when I want a very hand-drawn quality with textures and little mistakes, I usually scan in real drawings.
8: Does designing a cover for a classic book have its drawbacks?
The only "classic books" I've ever designed are a series of Arthur Miller plays. I don't think there are any drawbacks, though. In fact, classic books are much easier to design. Since these stories are already ingrained in the culture, they don't rely on their cover to hook a person's interest as much as modern books to.
9: How do you use your design to interest the modern audience in a classic book?
Mostly hand-lettering, or more bold graphic approaches. Usually anything but a painting.
10: Do you always read the book you're designing for?
Not always. For instance, if I am assigned a book about stay-at-home dads or the Battle of Bunker Hill, I probably don't need to read every chapter in order to get the gist of what the book is about. Fiction is different, since the story is what matters, so I usually read the novels.
11: Do you have an agent who helps you find work for book design?
No, but sometimes art directors will recommend me to other art directors.
12: Journey to the center of the earth and the other Jules Verne books you have designed for are very famous stories. Did you find it difficult to break the expectations people could have of the book and how it should be illustrated? How did this affect your design?
Like I said, since most people already
know the gist of the story, that frees up the design process a bit.
The real challenge was finding a design for each one that would work
in a multi-layered construction. I did a lot of sketches and mock-ups
before I was able to make all 4 ideas work.
My thoughts
I found this interview particularly interesting, for Tierney seemed to have no problems with the ebook and even said that to design in that format was not restricting for him. I admit, I was hoping to hear (after looking at how interactive his book designs for Jules Verne were) that there was room to experiment more with the physical copy. However, Tierney seems to be able to adapt to whatever format he has to design for.
Like Tierney, I don't think that the ebook is a particularly bad thing. I even own a kindle myself. However, I do prefer the physical book. I often find myself purchasing the physical copy of a book that I love, or a book by an author that I love, even if the digital copy is cheaper. I save purchasing books on my kindle for a book or author I have never read before, one that I'm not sure I would ever read again. I'm not sure why exactly this is. I think it may be that the physical copy still means more to me. If I love a certain book, I like having it sitting on my bookshelf for me to see. And, at other times, I find myself buying a book simply for the attractive cover - and this is always with a physical copy, not a digital one.
However, I did find it encouraging that Tierney said the book is more popular than ever. Perhaps ebooks can not be seen as a bad thing if they are getting more and more people involved in reading.
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