One of my friends just sent me a link to a tumblr by Matt Roeser, a graphic designer who “reads books and then designs new covers for them”,

Most recently he’s re-done all of the Song of Ice and Fire books by George RR Martin, and my friend’s comment is a plaintive “do want”. I love seeing designers go a little wild and try out proof-of-concept cover designs. I’d actually come across this site before – I believe I’d seen his Shades of Grey cover re-design previously – but the designer has out-done himself with his newest series, which are gorgeous.

My only criticism of the designs is that they don’t quite capture the gritty, realistic qualities of the series – they’re just a little bit too bright. They’re better than the originals, which are pretty generic “fantasy series” designs, but I think none of the covers for this series has ever quite captured the aesthetic I’d like to see.

The TV show tie-in version of the first cover does at least bring in a little bit of darkness into the picture, but I feel like pictures of known actors should never end up being the definitive cover unless the design is specifically re-done for the book. I could also do without the maroon “NEW ORIGINAL SERIES” band at the top of the HBO version.

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Post tags: book, fantasy, HBO, Matt Roeser

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