Coats and Many Colors

The same forces that dictate which clothing designer's spring line will garner the most retail attention—marketing, aesthetics and target audience—also influence seasonal buying trends. And while the debate withstands in determining the breadth of "good" literature based on either popularity or critical credibly, it's a fact that general reading audiences do judge books by their covers. As a result of the old adage, many book publishers and printers are developing ways of cornering consumers using unusual substrates and

production methods to enhance design, of which fine art photography is a common thread. The following titles are among a few fresh examples of how book publishing is competing with mass media glamour.

The Bonesetter's Daughter

by Amy Tan

Amy Tan is a writer with a keen sense of the past. Her novels, including the popular book-to-movie Joy Luck Club, have delved into not only 20th century Chinese-American culture, but also into a much richer social history in which women play integral roles. As a result, the latest cover for Tan's bestselling book, The Bonesetter's Daughter also reaches into several layers of print production with foils to demonstrate the complexities of creative heredity.

"The front [cover] and spine of The Bonesetter's Daughter jacket is printed in four-color process over a Crown Vantage 130 gold foil," explains William Peabody, vice president/director of production, Putnam Publishing Group. "The lamination is matte film and a spot gloss UV. The jacket stock is a standard 100lb. C1S, allowing for a slightly deeper embossing."

The image that appears on the jacket is a photograph of the author's grandmother, explains Ann Spinelli, vice president/executive art director at Putnam. She says, "It was taken in 1902 or 1904 in a studio in Shanghai." Spinelli explains that the jacket designer, Honi Werner, turned the black-and-white photograph into a four-color sepia image. The design was then sent to Phoenix Color for printing on a Heidelberg eight-color press after the foil department stamped the cover on a Bobst foil-stamping machine. The printing process, according to Paul Nardi, vice president of sales at Phoenix Color, was actually performed over the foil to achieve greater definition between mattes and