Tom Etherington
Tom Etherington is a designer at Penguin Press and the art director of The Happy Reader. He has designed books for authors including Greta Thunberg, Brian Cox, Grayson Perry, Paris Lees and Jack Kerouac. The rest of the time he works on other creative projects.
If you could recommend 3 books to anyone, what would they be?
Kippenberger: The Artist and His Families by Susanne Kippenberger
This biography of Martin Kippenberger by his sister blew me away last summer. Kippenberger was a complicated person to say the least, but what inspired me about this biography is his passion and tireless energy. Paintings, drawings, exhibitions, installations, books, semi-fictional art museums, giant eggs on milk-floats, he never stopped making things. When I finished this book I was buzzing with excitement. If anyone wants a book to spark some creativity, I would recommend this. It's published by the brilliant J&L Books.
Two Dimensional Man by Paul Sahre
A friend lent this to me and I was worried it might be a bit of a busman's holiday, but in the end I couldn't put it down. Sahre's wit and wisdom make this an engaging read. The book is full of anecdotes and stories from his experiences studying, working and teaching. His theory on the design of ice machines and his experience as a car showroom lettering artist are two things that I still think about. I find a lot of books on design enjoyable but totally disconnected from the daily realities of working as a designer – constant rejection, conservative clients, office politics. Sahre's book doesn't shy away from these realities, it shows how he has managed to make creative, exciting work regardless of them. I would recommend this to all designers feeling ground down.
What It Feels Like for a Girl by Paris Lees
As a book cover designer I get to read a lot for my job. It's a double edged sword when I love the book I'm working on. Obviously it's a joy to be able to design the cover, but there is a real pressure to make a cover worthy of the book. One book I loved last year was What It Feels Like for a Girl, Paris Lees' coming of age memoir about her teenage years growing up in Nottingham. It's a tough read in places – bullying, abuse and violence – but Paris's brutal honesty and charm make this a brilliant book. I only hope the cover does it justice.
What are you reading now?
I recently read Remain in Love by Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz, and it's revived my love of post-punk, so I'm currently rereading Rip It Up and Start Again by Simon Reynolds. I'm very late to the party, but a friend lent me a few Ursula LeGuin books so I'm working my way through them too. I'm about to start reading Middlemarch, which is the book of the season for the next issue of The Happy Reader.
What is your favourite bookstore or library?
It's so hard to narrow it down, browsing in bookshops is one of my favourite things to do. I prefer second hand bookshops. Visiting Antykwariusz Galazka in Warsaw was an incredible experience, so many beautiful magazines and books from the hay-day of the Polish School of Posters. Nearer to home, Books Peckham has recently upgraded from a stall to a little shop. It has so many hidden gems and you can pick up an art book for less than £5. They also have impeccable taste in music there.
