This is how you sell classic novels to a new generation

Not feeling drawn to that classic novel with a minimalist design on the cover? Well, the eye-catching book covers from Pulp! The Classics just might grab your attention. I saw copies of The Great Gatsby, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Wuthering Heights in a bookstore a few days ago and I just had to pick up the paperbacks for a closer look.

In a competitive book market, Pulp! The Classics is a great idea. They take some of the most famous works of literature and redesign the covers so that they look like vintage pulp novels – complete with clever strap lines, cheap-looking colored edges and fake scruff marks. Some of them even feature faces of movie stars.

The cover of their Tess of the D'Urbervilles gives us a barmaid-ish Marilyn Monroe. There's also a Colin Firth version of Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and the tagline, "Lock up your daughters…Darcy's in town!" How about a glaring, ruffed-up Mr. T as Othello? Or Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor as Romeo & Juliet?

Check out Pulp! The Classics' website for more. I really like the hippie Alice.

Comments

The Adorable Sculptures of Yen Yen Lo

These images are from a series of wall sculptures created by Yen Yen Lo . Here you can see her intricately textured ceramic pieces, looking downright adorable. Yen Yen Lo's eye for the unique and whimsical is delightful. Apparently they are not intended for kids under 16. Fifteen-year-olds cannot be trusted with fragile stuff. Get them a Funko Pop instead.

Feast your eyes on the making of 'Heisei Mary'

This is a time-lapse video of Japanese artist Shohei Otomo drawing Heisei Mary — a naked Sailor Moon-like figure completely covered in tattoos. The highly-detailed body ink features Spiderman, Darth Vader, Hello Kitty, Naruto, Street Fighter and Dragon Ball characters to name a few. It's really satisfying to see an artist's process, the way their illustration grows and grows out of nothing. Shohei is known for his hyper-realistic sketches using ballpoint pens. Born in Tokyo in 1980, he is the son of Katsuhiro Otomo, the creator of the manga Akira . He exhibits his work regularly in Japan and Australia as well as in Mexico and France. Three weeks worth of work are sped up into less than four minutes.

James DeRosso's ceramic monsters

I really like these whimsical ceramic creatures by James DeRosso. Yes, they have bulging eyes and toothy grins, but they're not scary at all. The Portland-based artist started making cute monsters while he was a student to jokingly create gargoyle-like guardians for the kiln. After other students kept taking his quirky little figures, he realized there was a market for them. "I'm enjoying the whole monster making niche," James says. "It's amazingly gratifying to be doing ceramics full time and especially to be a teacher introducing kids to the joy of clay." Be sure to visit his website and like his Facebook page for the latest monster news.

finding cain

Search This Blog