Archive for April 29th, 2009:

One last thing about Europa Editions—and I won’t be the first to mention it—is that they’ve done a terrific job of creating brand identity. First off, the name Europa is well-chosen, I think. It carries a certain sophistication and seems to lend the allure of travel to their books. Somehow, it makes literature in translation seem a bit sexy.

But the most distinguishing thing about Europa is the books themselves—which is to say that you can spot one from a mile away. All of their titles are released in trade paperback (common among many European publishers) with handsome French flaps, which give the books a sleek and elegant feel. And every cover bears Europa’s signature stork logo. Many of their covers feature bold images that are cut out against brightly colored backgrounds.

A recent discussion on The Book Design Review suggests that there is little consensus about the cover designs themselves. While some who commented appreciated the spareness and eyecatching images on many of the covers, others found them boring and somehow dated looking. In spite of people’s aesthetic differences on this point, however, there seems to be no dispute about the fact that Europa’s books are immediately recognizable.

“They attract me because I know they’re Europa titles,” one commenter confessed. That pretty much says it all.

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