This nucleus of inspiration shows in each book’s redesign giving them all a cohesion, while making them a set. Bass is known for his movie posters and title sequences, particularly with regard to his work with Alfred Hitchock. Though each book is designed by a different set of hands, the team was told by creative director Suzanne Dean to use artist Saul Bass as an inspiration. Developed and released by Random House, these fourteen new covers were developed by 6 different designers (Suzanne Dean, Stephen Parker, Julia Connolly, Matt Broughton, James Jones, Kris Potter). This latest series of Bond book designs feature no elaborate illustrations at all, and instead use typography and slight iconographic embellishments to evoke the theme of the book. They are really reminiscent of Robert McGinnis’ poster art for the 1967 pastiche of Casino Royale (featured at the top of the post).Ģ012 Bond 50th anniversary Vintage Classic Redesign These illustrations are beautiful, and emphasize sex appeal as well as serve up some hints to those who may not be familiar with the stories. This series is less a callback to the character’s pulp roots, but instead seems to be drawing inspiration from the mid to late 60 and even early 70s when Roger Moore was wearing the holster. With each cover of the original novels, Gillette illustrates the theme of the book through the creation of a distinct “Bond Girl” one sheet. In 2008, in honor of author Ian Fleming’s 100th birthday, Penguin released anniversary editions of the fourteen original novels with new cover artwork by Michael Gillette. These covers also helped Bond fans lick their wounds after the decline of the Brosnan cycle. More than anything though, these covers scream pulp adventure with the perfect mix of sex, exotic locales and violence. These covers called back to Bond’s roots as a cold war character from the 1950s-60s. For the updated Penguin set, artist Richie Fahey was charged with the task of creating all new covers for the fourteen original Fleming novels (and a new collection of Bond short stories). There has been some gorgeous Bond book designs over the years, which is why I wanted to share with you three of the most recent updates.ĭie another Day would have been the last Bond film in theaters, and Casino Royale wouldn’t premiere for another four years, so the image of 007 was probably due for an update (or a throwback). These covers, filled with smoking men and blond bombshells, told me everything I needed to know before I even opened the book. These outstanding illustrations gave readers a real sense of James Bond and the world surrounding him, not that from the films necessarily, but the 1950s and 60s world that Ian Fleming wanted us to experience. This series uses thumbnail versions of some of the artwork from the original hardcovers (although new art was created). My adoration for Bond book art came in the early 2000s, when I acquired a set of 1962 Signet reprints.

James bond book casino royale