First US edition of A Vision of Battlements. Anthony Burgess based his first novel on his experiences during World War II in Gibraltar, where he was serving with the British army. Written in 1949, it wasn’t published until 1965, following the success of A Clockwork Orange.

Jacket designer Larry Lurin had the title set on a curve, in two lines of all-caps Marble Heart. The shaded design dates back to the mid-1800s; ATF reissued it in 1933. Its quaint allure goes together well with the illustration depicting a saluting soldier as the inverted pendulum in a mechanical metronome.

Cover design and illustrations commissioned by Penguin Books for the reissue of Anthony Burgess’s The Wanting Seed, originally published in 1962.

The project was part of their Penguin Essentials series, originally conceived to bring new readers to classic titles, commissioning the covers to contemporary illustrators.

The illustrations and design is by Jose Berrio, with art direction from Josie Staveley Taylor.

Photo: Giovanna Cianelli. License: All Rights Reserved.

Open cover.

Book jacket for Laranja Mecânica, a new edition of the classic novel by Anthony Burgess, translated to Portuguese by Fábio Fernandes and issued by Brazilian publisher Aleph in 2019.

Iconically adapted by Stanley Kubrick, A Clockwork Orange is an icon of pop culture. Giving it a new look without losing all of its significant symbols that tell the story was a significant challenge. The 1968 novel still pulsates with boldness, courage, and devastating violence. It prompts readers to consider many issues of today’s society. I wanted to create a cover that could transport people into that universe. Perhaps you already watched the movie or had a Clockwork T-shirt or even read the book, but I wanted to present a new language that is fresh – but still very recognizable.

Photo: Giovanna Cianelli. License: All Rights Reserved.

When I first saw Ginger Snap, I was in love and thought that it perfectly matched the feeling that I wanted to transmit. Unfortunately, I only found a low-resolution image of a Photo-Lettering specimen. I had to draw all the letters based on other applications (mostly record covers).

For this project, my main influence was Heinz Edelmann, a German art director and illustrator, and his animation style. I aimed to conceptualize this cover as an animated timeline that could gather the main elements from A Clockwork Orange's universe. The front illustration is a mix of metaphorical elements: Alex violently suffering Ludovico’s treatment, while his old droogie comrades are walking away from him; the knives (representing Alex's previous violence against society), and the snake (Alex’s pet and symbolizing the betrayal of his friends).

On the back, even with the Nadsat phrase “Viddy well, little brother, viddy well” I chose to illustrate the police. It represents two things: the future careers of the droogies and the state violence. To reinforce that, the police are depicted walking towards the droogies (and vice versa). It can be understood as a future/past relationship or an imminent conflict.

Photo: Giovanna Cianelli. License: All Rights Reserved.

Ginger Snap in use for spreads that separate the chapters.

On the inside pages, I conceptually explored ’60s pop art’s repetition, patterns, and big rounded lettering contrasting with Burgess’s rough doodles from the original draft. I also created a collage composed of old Brazilian newspapers announcing that A Clockwork Orange – both the movie and book – would be censored in Brazil by the military dictatorship. I layered the inside pages with a slew of ultra-violent text.

Photo: Giovanna Cianelli. License: All Rights Reserved.

Sketches by Anthony Burgess are paired with Ginger Snap.

Photo: Giovanna Cianelli. License: All Rights Reserved.

Hand-made lettering.

Brazil is experiencing an ominous time. Our president, Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain, does not support democratic leadership, or diverse culture. It is deeply concerning, and many art-related cultures are under attack. Expositions are censored, journalists lives are threatened, police violence against citizens is on the rise, there are major cuts in the education and research spending, and the Amazon rain forest is burning to the ground. Most of the time, we feel hopeless. This reminds us of our own recent pasts: the military dictatorship, the extreme state violence and censorship.

This project won Gold at Latin American Design Awards in 2019.

Photo: Giovanna Cianelli. License: All Rights Reserved.

Collage of old Brazilian newspaper clippings announcing that A Clockwork Orange would be censored in Brazil by the military dictatorship in the 70s. The word “Ultravioléncia” from one of the headlines (set in caps from Egyptienne Bold Condensed or similar) is repeated multiple times.

Source: twitter.com License: All Rights Reserved.

From the New York Times:

Mr. [Bill] Gold spent six months working on black-and-white poster designs before arriving at this illustration, drawn by Ivan Punchatz — but it was rejected in favor of a design by Philip Castle.

The chosen poster for Stanley Kubrick’s film became an icon of pop culture. The title and the director’s name on it is custom lettering drawn by Castle. The naive letterforms on the unused poster design shown here are from a typeface, though. It’s named Stromberg Graphic. To my knowledge, it’s the only published alphabet design by Harvey Stromberg, made for Photo-Lettering and listed in their 1971 catalog.

I wonder whether this Harvey Stromberg is identical with the artist of the same name who pulled a prank on the MoMA around the same time. You can read about it in an article by A.D. Coleman for the New York Times from 1971, and in “A Productive Irritant: Parasitical Inhabitations in Contemporary Art” by Post Brothers and Chris Fitzpatrick, in Fillip 15, Fall 2011.

Ballantine Books re-issued Anthony Burgess’ work between 1972 and 1973 in a striking paperback style featuring ITC Ronda (sometimes with alternates).

The title is uppercase and at an angle, with tight letter-spacing. The author name is also set uppercase but with an even tighter spacing. Helvetica is used for the rest of the promo copy at the top.

The cover style is almost consistent throughout the series with some exceptions: For The Long Day Wanes, the type is not at an angle anymore. For One Hand Clapping (not shown in this post), the title is set in ITC Avant Garde. The more famous A Clockwork Orange shares a similar visual style but the type has switched entirely to Helvetica throughout.

Source: alldatalostbooks.co.uk All Data Lost Books. License: All Rights Reserved.

Crash (1973) [More info on ISFDB] See also the Brazilian variation.

This series of paperback editions of books by J.G. Ballard (1930–2009) was published by Triad Granada in the United Kingdom in 1984–1985, with cover art by James Marsh. The typographer is unknown.

Not quite sure if this really is a version/modification of Futura Extra Bold. Not Tempo Black either. The J is more like in Filmotype Flyer. The G and the M throw me off. [edit: Bryson suggests a modified Twentieth Century Ultrabold, see comments.]

Source: alldatalostbooks.co.uk All Data Lost Books. License: All Rights Reserved.

The Drought (1965), first published as The Burning World (1964) [More info on ISFDB]

Source: alldatalostbooks.co.uk All Data Lost Books. License: All Rights Reserved.

The Disaster Area (1967) [More info on ISFDB]

Source: alldatalostbooks.co.uk All Data Lost Books. License: All Rights Reserved.

Concrete Island (1974) [More info on ISFDB]

Source: www.ebay.co.uk pdrevs. License: All Rights Reserved.

The Unlimited Dream Company (1979) [More info on ISFDB]

Source: www.etsy.com Gravity Books. License: All Rights Reserved.

Myths of the Near Future (1982) [More info on ISFDB]

Source: www.etsy.com License: All Rights Reserved.

The Day of Forever (1967) [More info on ISFDB]

Source: alldatalostbooks.co.uk All Data Lost Books. License: All Rights Reserved.

Back cover of Crash

Published by Penguin Books January 1972 with cover art by David Pelham. The image shows a 1973 reprint.

To Pelham’s surprise his cog-eyed droog went on to acquire iconic status and is now regarded as one of the best book covers of all time. It is probably the longest serving cover of all time too, since it remained in use for over twenty-five years, except for a reprint in 1973 which retained the strap-line ‘A TERRIFYING NOVEL ... NOW A TERRIFYING FILM’ but used the artwork from Philip Castle’s film poster. — James Pardey