Before I ever thought about book design (or graphic design for that matter) as a profession, I was drawn to the cover of Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. It sat on my bed’s bookshelf headboard for years alongside Angela’s Ashes—another cover cemented in my mind—and other English class hand–me–downs from my sister.

Looking back, I see this as formative. This cover became so familiar, long before reading. To this day I can trace my taste in cover design to Paul Bacon’s iconic, simple, and bold jacket.

More about Paul Bacon here: