A NY Times Paper Cuts post recently featured a growing trend amongst bibliophiles: the literary tattoo. Apparently permanently marking your body with your favorite bookish reference and then posting photos of it for all the world to see (even when the result is, well…not that great) is all the rage amongst bibliophiles. Vonnegut, Plath, Dr. Suess, and Walt Whitman seem to claim top honors for offering the “Most Tattooable Quotes”. So obviously now I want to hear from you – if you were to wear one phrase upon your skin what would it be?
If you’re a book lover looking to fill a little naked wall space then look no further. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the trendsetters over at Urban Outfitters have culled a great little collection of vintage book prints. While I think it’s safe to say that these books were judged by their cover, there were no mistakes made in the selections. There truly is something for everybody with authors ranging from the heavy hitting Beats (Kerouac, Burroughs, and Bukowski) to Sci-Fi favorites (Philip K. Dick) and a cornucopia of classics in the mix (Vladimir Nabakov & J.D. Salinger to name a few).
If you’re gaga for cover art even half as much as I am you’ll enjoy seeing some lesser known covers. Some of my favorites include Corgi editions of Nabakov’s Lolita (pictured above) and Burrough’s NakedLunch, 1st editions of Philip K. Dick’s Ubik and Jack Kerouac’s On theRoad, and Charles Bukowski’s There’s No Business illustrated by R. Crumb. However, if I had to choose one it would undoubtedly be Tennesse William’s AStreetcar Named Desire, designed by mid-century graphic design giant Alvin Lustig.
And the best part? They’re framed and ready to hang. Having an eye for good design and a small budget for framing that’s music to my ears. Enjoy more images of these beauties below the break.
Don’t be surprised if you see me sporting my new t-shirt to the next Genre X meeting. Its got so many things I love: zombies, comic-styling, and bookishness.
There are 20 authors depicted in the tee. Can you name them all?
You can add typography to the list of things we all love here at genre X. We get just as excited over a cool new font as we do over a stylish bookcase. We’re not the only ones who place value in the way words look on the page. Font selection is important to authors too. And in today’s brand happy world, where the packaging can sell anything from pet food to politicians, good typographic representation is becoming more and more key. This Boston Globe article chose Obama and McCain to be the winning candidates based on their logo design and font choices.
