High Fidelity

Front Cover Great Book Jacket and Cover Design, 2001, p130
Indigo, designer Gary Day-Ellison, Book Cover

The first thing that caught my eye in this design was the play on the dot of the "i" in the title. The dot corresponds to the center of the LP and the bright yellow seems to stand out in the dark colors surrounding it. I really enjoy the "i" turned upside down that shares the dot. It reminds me of trying to read labels on spinning record albums. The large red circle continues to draw your eye in and emphasizes the title. The next thing I note is the blue negative image on the album. It adds a lot of mystique to the book cover since it seems like a shadowy suggestion to a mystery inside. I find myself asking "what does the face look like under the dot? Why can't I see the left side of the image?"
The designer then successfully draws your attention to the tagline by the use of a vertical line that seems to come from nowhere yet has a big impact on the overall design. The line draws your eye downward through a text block that starts out with a bright yellow word and becomes harder to read as the last lines blend into the background. The line tends to anchor the text and, finally, leads you to the author's name. This vertical line visually ties the whole cover together.
It's interesting how the "I" in the author's name is the only oblique letter in that line of type. It seems to give the author's name some energy and the overall design a sense of motion. The oblique "I" contrast nicely with the long vertical connecting line.
The font is identified as Plantin and serves the purpose of publication.