Really fixated on one design feature specific to Japanese book cover graphic design which is needing to account for the “obi” (that band around the book with news or campaigns relating to the series, endorsements from public figures, or simply an enticing summary) the obi cannot obstruct features on the cover such as the title, volume number, or author name (if it does those things the obscured stuff will seamlessly blend into the obi design) this however results in a weird dead space in the bottom quarter of the book
To use some manga I just got as an example notice here how the author name is PERFECTLY placed over the obi area. If you keep the obi on this feels like a complete design, when its gone there’s an awkward empty space in the bottom, the graphic designer could not utilize the full space of the cover to make a design that feels complete even without the obi, however this one is lucky enough to actually have ANYTHING in the obi area because sometimes its literally just a blank space!! Very annoying when a book or manga with that completely empty space in the bottom does not come with an obi
This manga is a 2015 reprint of the original 1972 edition so full use of the space is used to make the design feel complete. The obi with nostalgic messages from older readers obstruct the title and author name even! This still feels complete as a design even with the obi gone, not sure when this shift in design occurred as I don’t collect a lot of vintage editions but i will guess sometime in the 90’s
Actually mow im curious is there any other language/country that do something similar to the obi?
