Not sure how we missed these on release but a heads up from Arkitip was most welcome. Peter Mendelsund designed editions of classic Franz Kafka works. Mendelsund, art director at Pantheon Books, part of Knopf Publishing, had always hoped to design covers for Kafka novels and talks extensively on his website about the ideas and decisions behind the bold imagery he carries through the set. Under the Schocken Books header, another Knopf off-shoot, he manages to distill key themes running through the son of Prague’s work, into beautiful, deceptively simple designs.

“Whenever I’m asked (and I’m asked with some frequency) which authors I’d most like to design jackets for, I always say Kafka ..There’s just something about Kafka- and this something is so very hard to pin down.” Find them at Amazon.

When we hear L.L. Bean, we usually think of Roger Ebert, a function-over-fashion approach to business and those sweet-ass hand crank radios we always hope will turn up in our stockings. Whatever your association, the fact remains that the mail-order and retail company is a freaking American institution. To celebrate their 100th anniversary, the company has recreated some of its classic illustrated catalog covers as actual photographs. Creative Director VP Marcia Minter says of the project: “These covers have such a strong storyline. The process of creating them was more like directing a movie that it was a typical still photo shoot.” Based on this sample, we’re inclined to agree. Homeboy is a grumpier old man than Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau combined. See more of the original covers in their new Guaranteed to Last book. (designboom)

More looks in our gallery…

Made by Luis Urculo, this video showcases famous buildings being recreated with ordinary household items.

Dazed & Confused celebrates their 20th year with a “Cover Versions” exhibition at Colette in Paris. The exhibition features 20 of their most influential covers re-interpreted by a host of artists including: Marnie Weber, Aaron Rose, Hiro Sugiyama, Neal Fox, Tracey Emin, Dennis Rudolph, Terence Koh, Jonathan Meese, Mark Titchner, Julie Cockburn, George Young, Ben Sansbury, and Jose Parla.

A special run of limited edition t-shirts produced in conjunction with GAP are also available for sale.

More looks after the click.

Spoon & Tamago turns us onto these glass food covers by Switch design. We know we’ll probably never need them, but, as we all know, want often trumps need on our to-do list. They’re designed for specific types of food – in this case a rice ball, cream puff and slice of cake – and they’re hand blown by Toyama based craftswoman Sayaka Kanazu. Our only problem with these is that they make the food look so great we’d be scared to eat it.

Take a leap to see another look at the food cover.

With the decade coming to a close, a new crop of top lists of the first decade of the millenium are springing up. One of my favorites comes from The Book Cover Archive and it deals with book covers! “To summarize a decade’s worth of brilliant design with 20 covers is little more than an exercise in futility. We can all agree, however, that the best part of passing into a new digit bracket is the lists that come with it. This collection is little more than a representation of my own tastes, but I tried to choose works which were representative of their respective years.” I love seeing Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth on this list…