The End of Book Design

One of my favorite podcasts is Design Matters with host Debbie Millman. She has great way of prefacing each interview with a hilarious story about herself and she always chooses interesting people in the Design field to talk to. I heard a really interesting interview with book cover designer Peter Mendelsund recently about the future of e-books and the declining need of book designers. The end of print is not a new phenomena, the decline in newspapers and magazines are a fact of life but I really never thought of the decline in beautiful book art. Sure a kindle shows the cover of a book for a split second but then it disappears into a file and the text is the only thing that remains. There will be no purpose for bookworm designers to read novels and spend months reflecting on the meaning of the words and how to best relate it to imagery. I’ve always thought of book stores as a little gallery where designers and artists are able to visually showcase whats hidden behind the cover. I’m curious/nervous to see how the future of books will change book design in the coming years.