Yahoo Lifestyle Here’s How the Cover of Fall’s Biggest Book — Sally Rooney’s “Intermezzo” — Came to Life (Exclusive)
Graphic designers Rodrigo Corral and June Park spoke with PEOPLE about how they created the U.S. cover of the bestselling author's latest novel
Bestselling author Sally Rooney's latest novel, Intermezzo, was published in September, and has quickly become one of the buzziest books of the year
PEOPLE spoke with Farrar, Straus & Giroux creative director Rodrigo Corral and graphic designer and illustrator June Park, who designed the novel's U.S. cover
“We brainstormed a few ideas, and we tried different concepts and directions that revolved around chess," Park says of the design process
You’ve likely seen it staring out at you from your local bookstore’s front window display, taking over your social media feeds or under the arms of celebrities and bookworms alike: the cover of Sally Rooney’s novel, Intermezzo. The Irish writer’s latest book, which was published on Sept. 24 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, is undoubtedly one of the biggest new releases of the year so far.
Readers, for one, are enamored with the plot, where brothers Peter, a lawyer, and Ivan, a chess prodigy, find themselves balancing relationships with very different women in the aftermath of their father's death. A book centered on sibling dynamics is a fresh take for Rooney, who rose to literary fame with the novels Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018) and Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021).
Another source of discussion, however, is the eye-catching cover. The stunning U.S. cover, featuring a yellow chess board design, was created by Farrar, Straus & Giroux creative director Rodrigo Corral and graphic designer and illustrator June Park.
“Sally's such an international, skilled, big author and we do have such big pride in being her U.S. publisher,” Corral tells PEOPLE. “We take it really seriously [when] we do get to design a book cover for her. We're really mindful of her previous books, her brand, what the U.K. covers were doing. We wanted to make sure this makes sense to — and also appeals to — the U.S. market.”
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
The cover of 'Intermezzo' by Sally RooneyThe book cover design process typically takes about two to three weeks, Corral explains, and begins by meeting with the book’s editors. The author fills out a questionnaire to help the designers get a sense of the author’s thoughts throughout the writing process. Next, designers read the manuscript, share initial ideas within the art department and bring them to the editor for approval. Then, the jacket goes to the author and sometimes the sales team for their sign-off before the book hits the market.
Park and Corral, who first began working together in 2015, had about "three weeks maximum" to design the cover for Intermezzo, which features the novel’s five central characters appearing as the shadows of chess pieces.
Related: With Intermezzo, Sally Rooney Is All Grown Up: ‘I Didn't Want to Be 'the Young Novelist''
“Chess is such a prominent theme. We knew that that was not only important to the book, but, also, it's visually really intriguing,” Park tells PEOPLE of the concept's origin. “We brainstormed a few ideas, and we tried different concepts and directions that revolved around chess. We ultimately agreed that this specific layout was really interesting to us. And even with this, we played around so much [with] different layout, scale, color.”
“That's one of our joys in this space, is getting to be able to really refine ideas,” Corral says, adding that, “there's something really rewarding” for the reader to see the correlation between the cover and the story itself.
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“All those things on the jacket function as clues and we love that,” Corral says. “It's almost like a dialogue between design and reader, which we really pride ourselves in doing.”
Devoted Rooney fans also know how the author’s books have taken on a new life beyond the page. Coveted press packages for Beautiful World, Where Are You featured tote bags, postcards and a now-iconic yellow bucket hat with the novel's cover and title design. For Intermezzo, Park and Corral’s designs appeared on items like bandanas, enamel pins, a reusable bag and even a puzzle.
Creating those promotional materials meant the designers had to align with the marketing department very early on in the process, to ensure everyone was working in tandem, Corral explains.
“It really takes a village to bring everything home,” Park says.
The excitement for Intermezzo has been going strong since the novel was first announced in February 2024. Receiving an early reader’s copy was cause for celebration — and envy — on TikTok and Instagram, and many users were also quick to share their thoughts on the novel’s U.S., U.K. and exclusive Barnes and Noble covers, which Park says is great to see.
“There's a lot of discourse online — a lot of hype about the cover, about the book, of course, a lot of debate between which cover you like more: U.K. vs. U.S.,” Park says. “It's really all fun and makes me very happy to hear the discussion continue.”
And this isn't the first time the designers have seen the buzz grow for their books. Both Park and Corral have worked on covers for other big-name authors, from John Green to Lauren Groff, and say that hearing readers’ reactions is still rewarding. Though Corral finds it “fascinating” that some people are still discovering that book cover design is a profession, seeing his work out in the world “never gets dull.”
“Readers want to read because they want to get lost. They want to go on a journey. They want to learn something,” Corral says. “And that's what's such a gift, I think, for us as designers; we get that freedom to come up with something that they can connect with.”
Park, who added that she loves seeing the work of her fellow FSG team members on display, also points out the importance of designing work for the writers themselves.
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“These are authors' babies,” Park says. “They spend countless hours and life experience to make this happen. And it's such an honor to get to have my take on it, try to make something meaningful for them, and also something that appeals to people. Something that people want to collect all editions of. It's all really very gratifying work for me.”
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