Weird Similarity...

A weird similarity:

The excellent cover to Steve Holden's Somebody to Love (about a transgender funeral parlour worker), published in October 2010...

The sleeve to a Simian Mobile Disco single released in November 2010...

Given production lag-times, it seems impossible for the record sleeve to be a copy of the book cover: just a weird coincidence.

UPDATE: Wise reader Emily points me to this interview with book designer Clare Skeats where she talks about both covers and the inspirations behind them.

Snow Paint

I don't know who did this cover (UPDATE: It's the work of Clare Skeats, of whose fantastic designs you can see more here), and the book's not out until next year (from Granta), but it's both simple and effective. Perhaps it's just me, but I really like the way the slightly scratchy/streaky texture of the paint mimics the hard ridges you get in ice or hard snow (especially on the left-hand side)--the kind you tread on, slip on, and and break your leg on. Click for a bigger version.