I really like the way Chip Kidd uses perspective to his advantage. I noticed a lot of his covers do this, which opens up the seemingly "small" space of a book cover to something larger.
For instance, Kazuo Ishguro's The Unconsoled cover, uses a photograph of what may be piano string pegs (based on what I read about the main character of the story who was a pianist who lost his memory). Only the pegs have no strings, perhaps alluding to the pianist's missing memories. Rather than use a flat image, Kidd used lighting to cast shadows, enhancing the image's dimensionality. Furthermore, the cover copy also casts shadows (even though they are flat), making this an interesting cover, indeed, and reflective of the story's main premise.
The cover for Loop, by Koji Suzuki, also employs depth and dimension, although this time, Kidd only uses the typography and basic graphics.
Chip Kidd reminds me that I am not restricted, figuratively speaking, to the mathematical dimensions of the cover's paper size.
Go creativity! :)
