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Design Category
Book design, 2001
Design firm
RVC Design (New York, New York)
Collection
(2002) 50 Books/50 Covers of 2001
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Bonjour Tristesse is a classic novel; written more than 50 years ago; it was one of my mother’s favorite books. Redesigning a classic is always a problem.
In Otto Preminger’s movie of this book, the credits unfold over an image of Jean Seberg applying make up in front a vanity mirror. This image captures the essence of the novel. A girl discovers her sexuality and uses it to keep her father from remarrying and, in doing so, becomes cynical and unfulfilled. Saul Bass created a wonderful poster for the movie using the face of a young woman with a single tear falling. I just updated this image.
I am pleased with the spare nature of the cover —just type, parentheses and a teardrop.