How Music Works by David Byrne

Source: http://www.nytimes.com.License: All Rights Reserved.

The New York Times asked people in and around the world of graphic design to name one of their favorite book covers from 2012. How Music Works was selected by Steven Heller.

Composed with just a single neutral black sans-serif typeface, one size for both title and byline, and a simple computer "sound" icon — voila, that's all you need to get the message across. It doesn't fight with all the noisy covers, either. Yet there is an extra — the cover is padded, so you can rest your head after reading.

This design was a winner in the 2012 50 Books/50 Covers competition.

Art director: Walter Green