Notting Hill Editions
– book cover designs & brand guidelines
Notting Hill Editions is a highly-regarded independent British publisher and family-run press producing limited edition, collectable books focussed on the most surprising and unusual thinkers and writers of past and present. Keen to bring the design process closer to home, they approached Plain Creative to set out a classic consistency to the cover designs.
Brand Development, Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography, Typesetting, Art Direction
We needed to match the attention to detail Kim has for each book within our style guides. This included average word counts for optimum quote lengths and building in allowances for longer titles. Having this solid foundation allows the series to both sit together as a suite. The decisions around cover linen colours, endpapers and foils is what lets each book stand on its own merit – a collaborative process between studio and client.
We needed to match the attention to detail Kim has for each book within our style guides. This included average word counts for optimum quote lengths and building in allowances for longer titles. Having this solid foundation allows the series to both sit together as a suite. The decisions around linen colours, endpapers and foils is what lets each book stand on its own merit – a collaborative process between studio and client.
Every character counts, a process which includes manually adjusting the kerning for the copy on each book cover to avoid spacing issues (or rivers).
For a select few, illustrations become the focal point, replacing the usual quote. In some instances, we have recommended an illustrator or artist, such as Owain Kirkby and his linocut work for Notting Hill: A Walking Guide. For others, such as Brazil That Never Was, we undertook the illustration for ‘Fawcett’s 1925 Expedition’ map.
For a select few, illustrations become the focal point, replacing the usual quote. In some instances, we have recommended an illustrator or artist, such as Owain Kirkby and his linocut work for Notting Hill: A Walking Guide. For others, such as ‘Brazil that never was’ we undertook the illustration for ‘Fawcett’s 1925 Expedition’ map.
