In the world of design, a makeover is a good thing. So it's no surprise that after several recent makeovers, HarperDesign, now called Collins Design, presents both a new business model and a successful new line of stylish and affordable illustrated titles focused on comics and related genres.
Originally launched to produce art and illustrated works for the international market, Collins Design has been moved to Harper's general books unit and now aims the bulk of its list (about 100 titles a year) at the U.S. market. But over the past three years, Collins Design has focused part of its list on the steadily growing popularity of graphic novels, manga and animation, creating a popular line of frontlist how-to and reference titles that sell well in the U.S. and internationally—and do even better once on the backlist.
"We still cover a spectrum of titles on art, architecture, product and graphic design," said Collins Design publisher Laurie Rippon. But she pointed to "phenomenal interest in manga and graphic novels," from the market and the Collins Design staff. Associate Publisher Marta Schooler used her visits to Asia to to bring back examples that fueled the staff's interest in Asian pop, anime and digital art for future acquisitions. Marketing manager Ali Kokeman, another fan, said there was "a fan's view around the office that helped push the publishing program forward."
Harriet Pierce, associate publisher and marketing director, divided the Collins Design pop culture list into "soft how-to, artist books and behind-the-scenes books. We try to show the breadth of the category." Among the how-to titles are Easel Does It, an unusual series of spiral-bound books that can be folded to stand like an easel, offering technical lessons on how to draw manga, anime or western comics. Collins Design titles also include historical reference works like Manga: 60 Years of Japanese Comics by Paul Gravett or the forthcoming Manga: Master of the Art by Timothy Lehman.
Another historical reference work, Foul Play!: The Art and Artists of the Notorious 1950s E.C. Comics by Grant Geissman, provides a comprehensive illustrated encyclopedia about the legendary 1950s comic book company. And while the books do well enough on frontlist, said Pierce, they do even better on the backlist. Indeed, books on Asian pop culture are so popular, Pierce told PW, that the books sell as well internationally as they do in the U.S. She pointed to Comic Artists—Asia (2004) and Japanese Comickers (2003), books on contemporary Asian comics, that combined have sold more than 50,000 copies. "Comickers sold more last year than in the previous year," said Pierce, "without a name author or national advertising. It's a measure of the demand for this category out in the marketplace."
For fall, Collins Design will pull out all the stops with several big reference works, including The Monster Book of Manga, a monster-sized, 384-page how-to, and Graphic Novels: Everything You Need to Know by Paul Gravett, a source book and critical reference on the best 100 graphic novels. In October look for The Alchemy of MirrorMask by the acclaimed team of artist Dave McKean and bestselling novelist and comics writer Neil Gaiman, a behind-the-scenes look at their work on the forthcoming movie MirrorMask.
"We don't publish unless we can bring something new to the table," said Rippon.
