Haruki Murakami’s Books Get A New Simplistic Look

By Anthea Quay, 03 Oct 2012

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Vintage has commissioned Isreali-born, London-based illustrator Noma Bar to redesign the covers of Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s books.

The 15 titles’ new design uses a circle as a central motif, with a palette limited to the colors red, black and off-white—to create a “strong and consistent identity for the set”, according to Vintage.

“Murakami’s work has a sense that something has been lost of hidden, what is real and what is not,” Vintage wrote on its blog. “To match this playfulness for the covers, we commissioned Noma Bar. [Bar’s] powerful graphic illustrations cleverly utilize negative space concealing secondary images and illusions.”

“Noma’s illustrations were screenprinted by hand to give them a personal and softer edge.”

Bar also told Creative Review: “As with Murakami’s writing, new meanings can be found in my illustrations on closer inspection and these discoveries reveal themselves in layers, like a puzzle. These layers of discover are evident in all of my work.”