Judging Books by Their Covers: US Vs. UK

Over at The Millions they're having a little fun comparing the US and UK book cover designs of this year's Rooster (The Morning News) contenders.

"Book cover design is a strange exercise in which one attempts to distill iconic imagery from hundreds of pages of text. Engaging the audience is the name of the game here and it’s interesting to see how the different audiences and sensibilities on either side of the Atlantic can result in very different looks. The American covers are on the left, and clicking through takes you to a larger image. Your equally inexpert analysis is encouraged in the comments."

Room by Emma Donoghue, a book I recently enjoyed and highly recommend is featured:

"These are both appropriate creepy, and while the U.K. cover gets points for the claustrophobic smallness of the toy house, I think the U.S. cover is better here. There’s something harrowing about that crayon scrawl on the stark white background."

Read the rest of the post and see other examples here.