Cover for new edition of Orwell's 1984 is brilliant

Love this cover art for the new Penguin edition of 1984.

[Designer David] Pearson says that the design went through numerous iterations "to establish just the right amount of print obliteration. Eventually we settled on printing and debossing, as per the Great Ideas series [Why I Write shown, above], with the difference being that the title and author name were then blocked out using matt black foil. This had the effect of partially flattening the debossed letters, leaving just enough of a dent for the title to be determined – though I can't vouch for it's success on Amazon."

Orwell, covered up (Thanks, Matthew!)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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http://www.facebook.com/RobertMHarrison Robert Harrison

Relative to my personal tastes it looks like complete ass
- http://twitter.com/pickledbeatnik pickledbeatnik
  
  Complete ass? It mocks SOPA in a brilliant way, how is it complete ass? Also, I don’t think your opinion really holds up if that’s all you have to say.
  - http://www.facebook.com/RobertMHarrison Robert Harrison
    
    I did say “relative to my tastes”. And to be honest, my tastes are a bit low brow. I like stuff that “looks pretty”.
  - crnk
    
    Sorry but I don’t see any bit of relation to SOPA… If black bars across a visual object is a mockery of SOPA I think your standards are abysmally low. Yes it is a commentary on censorship (but artistically I find it lacking in creativity while boring and predictable…execution is the only mildly redeeming quality) but I think SOPA is a huge stretch. I find the internet ‘blackouts’ more creative anyway…sites retained branding while making a statement.
- Mark_Frauenfelder
  
  You mean you don’t like the look of ass? WTF is wrong with you?
  - http://twitter.com/EleOcho L8
    
    He prefers tits.
    - niktemadur
      
      Like a guy I knew twenty years ago, he hated “sex lies and videotape” because there wasn’t a single exposed tit in the whole movie.
  - robuluz
    
    Its because we can’t read tone. He’s actually saying it sexily with a little silent “Meowww!” at the end.
Smash Martian

New edition? There has only ever been this edition.
http://twitter.com/jeremylhughes Jeremy Hughes

Reminds me of the cover of Bowie’s new album. In the zeitgeist…
http://theladyfingers.blogspot.com/ Ladyfingers

Penguin’s cover art strategy is genius. Almost no designer fees, and gives readers an easy way to show off how clever they are in the café from right across the street.
- vonbobo
  
  Oh! A tablet that displays the book’s cover on its back!
http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood

Speaking of █████ ██████, I am particularly impressed with ██████. Almost smug, in fact.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  ░░░░░ ▒▒▒▒ ▓▓▓▓
  These are nice options, too.
Donald Petersen

I love it. If left in charge, I might have also blacked out the Penguin’s eyes, a la Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. But that’s why I’m never left in charge.
Timothy Krause

Why not just go all the way?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/33498942@N04/8369268854/in/photostream
- niktemadur
  
  …and replace the guy on the bottom with this one?
  http://itsfanart.com/gallery/var/albums/misc/gwalla/afd.jpg
http://twitter.com/chrisjimson chris jimson

You should see their cover for “Fahrenheit 451″– it’s HOT!
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=500921150 Izzy Jaecks
  
  16 years ago I had the chance to buy a special edition F 451 that was bound in an asbestos cover….
http://www.facebook.com/gerel.gruber Gerel Gruber

Why print obliteration at all especially for a book with words and stuff? Makes no sense to me. AND yes I have read this book several times thank you.
- chgoliz
  
  You might like to read the book. In fact, you probably should.
Ben Burger

I think it’s pretty bad. I can hardly make out the writting (I know that’s the point) To me it looks more like a history of penguin publishing.
sam1148

There was a limited edition of Fahrenheit 451. 200 Signed. Bounded with an asbestos cover. Also a similar binding for Steven King’s Firestarter. Limited edition.
http://www.abebooks.com/books/bradbury-fahrenheit-451-king-firestarter/asbestos-science-fiction.shtml
ADM

See also the Zero Dark Thirty poster and new trailer.

http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/zero-dark-thirty-poster.jpg
- numpty
  
  However, in Zero Dark Thirty’s case, they may just have scribbled over the posters in embarrassment. On a par with Titanic for being a true story you already knew that really didn’t merit a Hollywood version.
Angel Moberly

Pure awesomesauce!
hacky

The photo is a neat test for correct laptop screen angle.
Jean Baptiste

I bet we’ll be finding copies of this stinkbomb in various book store discount racks for years to come…
http://blog.doomsdayzen.com agonist

I like it but I wish they had made it more obvious who the publisher was.
- Donald Petersen
  
  Good point. They could have been quite a bit subtler about that.
http://profile.yahoo.com/26QB4RC737TXWWAZITLTZP27UU Dove Tail

I’m a bit concerned about the designer’s grasp of the English language though.
http://twitter.com/adrian_agoes Kang Dian

Here’s the one showing the title… http://chipkidd.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/1-book-covers-George-Orwell-1984.jpg
orwell

meh…

since most, if any, will be purchasing this hard bound version online, i think the effort put into deboss, matte foil, etc., is pretty much lost. don’t think they gave alot of thought to how it would communicate “on shelf.” (meaning, online in today’s virtual bookstore world) and seriously, how many iterations did they go through to get this version? doesn’t seem very “1984,” to me, but what do i know…
- SamSam
  
  But even after they buy it online, they still have it, debossed, matte foil and all…. right? Unless you are saying that most people will be buying it for ereaders, in which case you’re wrong because ebooks are still well under a third of the book market.
UncaScrooge

This cover is doubleplusgood, but I can’t wait to spend a dark eternity on the moon after absorbing their new design for Brave New World.
bigasquam

1984 is like soooo 29 years ago
Victoria Sheffield

Nice Cover!
http://www.facebook.com/robert.sinclair.fb Robert Sinclair

I actually think this would have been a much more brilliant cover design for Animal Farm.

“Some are more equal than others.”
Dean Kielpinski

The idea is great but execution fails, without other text there’s no clue anything’s been redacted, and if you don’t know about redacting it’s just some black boxes on the cover.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  It’s hard to tell from the photo, but you can read the title and author under the black boxes.