US vs UK Design

In Tyler, the success or failure of a design is given a lot of attention, but less so is turned upon the success of a design as it is influenced by the country viewing it. Whether this is a result of social queues or simple sensibilities, the success of a design occurs at least partially based upon the race of the person viewing it. This is interesting to consider, and I recently found a blog post that dealt with this. American vs British book cover designs were judged based upon design, and it seems to me, based upon a blind test I've seen with others, most people strongly prefer one or the other. Consider:

1. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned A story of the misfortune of the male gender, from Vikings to modern man.

2. The Sense of an Ending A story of a boyhood group of friends, 40 years after the last member of their group killed himself.

3. Open City A Young Nigerian doctor looks back on his life during a physical journey.

4. The Marriage Plot A love triangle between a brainy woman, a 'perfect' man, and a religious zealot, as their stories entwine.

5. 1A84 A woman decides she is in a parallel world and a writer does a questionable ghost script.

6. The Art of Fielding A baseball player's career is entwined with five others over the case of the final game.

7. The Devil All The Time A cast of violent, sick characters make their way towards a final meeting.

8.Freedom A couple goes through the times, for better of for worse, in this journey to maturity.

9. Super Sad True Love Story An innocent couple's love of book and romance bolster a failing America's financial system.

Though these are the selections that dealt most strongly with typography, there are many other options to judge the overall designs here, here, and here.


By the way, in case you were wondering? The entire left column are the American versions.