@casualoptimist.bsky.social
www.casualoptimist.com
The Case of the Green Covers is a risograph-printed zine that documents the history of the “Green Penguins”, “a series of hundreds of crime novels published with green covers by the UK publisher Penguin in the 1960s”. [justseeds.org]
03.02.2026 18:02 — 👍 23 🔁 7 💬 2 📌 0
The cover of the Feb 2, 2026 edition of the New Yorker, illustrated by Peter de Sève. The illustration. "New York's Toughest", is of a snowy New York street scene with food delivery bike riders carrying giant orange backpacks battling the elements.
'New York's Toughest" illustration by Peter de Sève for the February 2 edition of the New Yorker
03.02.2026 16:39 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
"Targeted" cover illustration for the Feb 9, 2026 edition of The New Yorker by Till Lauer. The illustration is of a shooting range target silhouette in the shape of the Statue of Liberty riddled with bullet holes.
"Targeted" by Till Lauer for the cover of the latest issue of @newyorker.com
03.02.2026 16:24 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Lit Hub's best book covers of January:
lithub.com/the-10-best-...
And here's Spine's latest Book Covers We Love post too:
spinemagazine.co/book-covers-...
ICYMI, here's this month's book cover of note!
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2026/01...
Helen of Troy, 1993 by Maria Zoccola; design by Maddy Angstreich; art by Frederick Sandys (Scribner / January 2025)
Also, from last year…
28.01.2026 02:51 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Any Lee Bains fans over here?!
Art direction by me.
Cover photo by Matt White (using a sign we dug out of a barn in Arkansas)
In his debut poetry collection, Alabama poet and musician Lee Bains draws on his own experience at the intersection of work and food—the daily ritual of a workday lunch.
This is a really interesting selection. A lot of the covers you would expect, but still some surprises...
lithub.com/the-best-boo...
A look at some of the most beautiful and unusual examples from the first 100 years of the "modern" book cover, since the rise of publishers' bindings circa 1820: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-art-of-book-covers-1820-1914
14.01.2026 20:45 — 👍 193 🔁 75 💬 2 📌 12
The Moss by Lisa Lueddecke; design by Sarah Creech; art by Yorgos Cotronis (Simon & Schuster BYR / September 2025)
One of the Boys by Victoria Zeller; design by Casey Moses; cover art by Jon Stich (Levine Querido / May 2025)
Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause; cover art by Welder Wings (Peachtree Teen / September 2025)
I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang; design by Alex Niit; cover art by Kim Myatt (HarperCollins / January 2025)
Notable YA Covers of 2025 - this really is a post for fans of illustrated book covers:
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2026/01...
#books #illustration #YA
Here's my look back at some of the YA book covers that caught my eye last year. There's a ton of great art and illustration - particularly fantasy and horror - if that's your thing...
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2026/01...
A little later than planned, but here's my look back at some of the young adult book covers from last year...
13.01.2026 14:14 — 👍 3 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
I loved watching this quick video recap of how Penguin designer Elisha Zepeda made the book covers for 10 books that came out in 2025. Zepeda has a much longer look at his process on YT. [instagram.com]
12.01.2026 16:30 — 👍 25 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 0"Fuck AI! Film poster art forever!"
@seekandspeak.bsky.social's Notable Film Posters of 2025
www.seekandspeak.com/notable-film...
Jan Tschichold, Redrawings of the Penguin logos, 1947
Scanned from Pioneers of German Graphic Design, Callisto Publishers GmbH, 2017 #jantschichold #penguinbooks
Na Kim and David Pearson on book cover design and trends
www.itsnicethat.com/features/has...
Identity — The Story of Czech Graphic Design is a seven-part series available on YouTube that “introduces viewers to the history of Czech graphic design”. [kottke.org]
06.01.2026 21:52 — 👍 21 🔁 5 💬 0 📌 1I don't think they did a best of the year list? Did I miss it?
05.01.2026 15:30 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
A little late to this but here are PRINT's picks of the best book covers for December 2025...
www.printmag.com/book-covers/...
Another late share. A big thanks to @casualoptimist.bsky.social for including two of my designs in this year’s roundup!
31.12.2025 18:11 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0Especially when you’ve asked other designers to pick the covers!!
18.12.2025 02:23 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Thank you!
18.12.2025 02:22 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Here are Spine’s best book covers of 2025!
spinemagazine.co/book-covers-...
It is mercifully short and he explains his choices so I am not going to complain! I mean I do a very long list that takes me forever to compile, so I have a lot respect for people who can whittle down to just 10, even if I don't always agree with the picks! :-)
15.12.2025 21:04 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
Mark Sinclair weighs in on AI vs the actual real work of design, and chooses his favourite book covers of 2025 for Creative Review:
www.creativereview.co.uk/the-best-boo...
The NYT's Best Book Covers of 2025 (gift link):
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/b...
For the folks waiting for Matt Dorfman’s list for the NYT, here it is (gift link):
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/b...
re-posting for the weekend!
www.casualoptimist.com/blog/2025/12...
