Faber redesigns 12 titles from drama list with plastic-free covers

Faber has revealed a striking, plastic-free typographic cover design for a dozen titles from its legendary drama list, with a font that "shouts like a playbill".

The 12 titles have been refreshed by freelance designer Jonathan Pelham, using stage-inspired imagery to celebrate the theatrical list.

London-based Pelham, who specialises in book covers, said: “The design makes reference to books being a ‘platform’ of sorts. With the simple introduction of four trapezia as a framing device, the cover takes on the elevated dimensions of a stage. Meanwhile, the heavy sans serif shouts like a playbill.

“The bevelled [sloping] edges closely resemble the designer Berthold Wolpe’s ‘ribbon’ motif, best known for appearing on the works of Eliot, Heaney, Lowell and Larkin. This emblem is a mark of quality for Faber, so it is fitting that it should adorn the covers of our celebrated playwrights.”  

Dinah Wood, editorial director for drama, said: “An exhilarating aspect of live theatre is its ephemeral nature. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. And the great counterbalance to that is making the script itself available in perpetuity. I have long dreamed of a classic livery for our plays that reflects this timelessness. Not grand, but practical and pocketable, comfortable to hold and use.

“And the cover is unsealed, which means no plastic—just good old paper and ink. Pelham’s elegant typographic design has a contemporary feel with more than a nod to Faber’s illustrious history. It’s a celebration of past, present and future, and I am delighted to be launching the list with these twelve diversely dazzling titles, ranging from Harold Pinter’s ‘The Homecoming’ to Antoinette Nwandu’s ‘Pass Over’.

“Meanwhile, hot on the heels of our new edition of ‘Arcadia’, Tom Stoppard’s ‘The Real Thing’ is freshly available in red and blue to coincide with the Old Vic’s revival, and there are many, many more, waiting in the wings.”

On selecting the 12 from the hundreds of drama titles, Faber told The Bookseller that the redesign will be extended to other books in the section. "What we offer here is a snapshot of the drama catalogue and the treasures therein, which includes the classics and notable debuts," a Faber spokesperson said. "We are already underway with further titles—Look Back In Anger will appear in new livery later this month, and so this initial 12 will soon become a much larger family."

This is the first redesign of the drama titles in more than 40 years. "The design studio Pentagram arrived on the scene for Faber in the early 1980s and the simple cover design, often using the theatre’s chosen image on our front cover, has changed very little since then," the spokesperson said. 

The new editions will be priced, as the originals were, at £10.99 each.