SEPTEMBER 2019 PAUL SAHRE
quite different, but they still feel like
they come from me. I like to follow
an idea where it leads.Can you give us an example?
My latest cover for Chuck
Klosterman. It’s designed to relate to
other books I’ve designed for Chuck,
but this one is almost nothing:
centered Helvetica on a white
background. But everything is upside
down. So it’s idea-driven, which
is perfect for this book. It’s a book
about questioning everything.What are the biggest advantages of
being a sole practitioner?
Getting back to this being a calling,
I’ve found it’s the only way I can
work where I still feel that way about
it. You have much more ability to
navigate and say yes or no to things.
And put yourself in a position whereyou can do work that you really,
really care about.
Keeping it small, you get to
do much more hands-on work.
Certainly when you get to my age
(over 50), a lot of my peers have
naturally progressed into more of a
director or management role, where
you’re more concerned with big ideas
than actually making things. I like
making stuff. Even having a staff of
four or five people I’ve found takes
me away from actually designing in a
way that I just don’t like.... and what are the biggest
disadvantages?
Money. It complicates things. Some
people do great work with big
budgets. I never was able to figure
that out.
It’s not really the case any more,
but there have been times where I’veyou typically respond to situations
that are not of your making – and
at the same time you have to bring
yourself into the process for it to be
any good. And to me, that dichotomy
is fascinating. You wouldn’t think
these two things have anything to
do with each other, but with really
good design work, you see a person
in there.You’re well known for your book
covers. What is it about this field
that attracts you?
It’s a singular design challenge: a
graphic doorway to an experience
someone has. But it’s interesting.
Whenever a book doesn’t sell, it’s the
book cover’s fault. When it does, it’s
not because of the book cover.
I don’t know. People say print
is dead, right? The digital shift has
created more opportunities for meas a book cover designer. We think
about them more as permanent
objects now; the publishers are more
open to something interesting with
a cover design. For me, it’s been
nothing but good... at least until
print does actually die.What’s your approach to figuring
out what should go on a book cover?
It must be difficult to distil so much
into such a small area, and your
designs are often very pared-back.
It really depends on the book.
There are times when it’s a process
of distilling, other times it makes
sense to do the complete opposite.
I’ve described my approach as an
‘any visual means necessary’ way of
working. A cover I design should feel
right for a particular book and at the
same time, should feel right for me.
Covers that I’ve designed can look“BOOK COVERS ARE A SINGULAR DESIGN
CHALLENGE: A GRAPHIC DOORWAY TO
AN EXPERIENCE SOMEONE HAS”
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