Very simple idea. I like how the pages separate between Canada and the U.S.
I am still working on this cover. We are going to go with another direction but there was something I liked about this. The book is about mean speech.
The author had taken some photographs of Los Angeles and I was given a selection to work with. This one caught my attention right away. There was something about the positioning of the Goodyear blimp above the red flower that was perfect. I had to rework the photograph quite a bit to make the red flower really pop.
This one is almost put to bed. In the end a simpler approach was called for. I used four different flourishes (worms) in the frame element so I still managed to get it on the cover albeit in a less off-putting way.
We did advanced review copies for this book and when I got first saw it my reaction was less than positive - it lacked finesse. I have reworked it for the final cover.
Before We had Words
S. P. Zitner
The kind of cover you could only get away with on a poetry book. Yes I know the type is really small.
The kind of cover you could only get away with on a poetry book. Yes I know the type is really small.
Her Mothers Ashes
This one took quite a bit of back and forth to arrive at the final result. One of the reasons I kind of like the end result is that it doesn't look like one of my covers. I never would have considered using Bodoni Swashes as a cover font until I saw Barbara de Wilde's amazing Milk cover.
Weed Man
The Remarkable Journey of Jimmy Divine
John McCaslin
This printed and laminated cloth cover has a velum jacket that allows the art to show through. Jimmy's name is visible in the negative spaces between the leaves. I just picked it up at my P.O. box on the other side of the border and needless to say it raised a few eyebrows with the custom agents on the way back.
John McCaslin
This printed and laminated cloth cover has a velum jacket that allows the art to show through. Jimmy's name is visible in the negative spaces between the leaves. I just picked it up at my P.O. box on the other side of the border and needless to say it raised a few eyebrows with the custom agents on the way back.
This is an image I created for a cover Identity and the Failure of America. It wasn't accepted in the end but I still think it is interesting. It almost doesn't need a title.
Canada’s Game
This one would fall into the category of just getting out of the way of a great photograph.
Mountain Tea
Peter Van Toorn
The font I used for this cover went out of circulation for a while but is back now. Wonky font for sure but the italic is kind of sweet.
The font I used for this cover went out of circulation for a while but is back now. Wonky font for sure but the italic is kind of sweet.
Unusual approach for this poetry cover. The publisher went for the dye-cut holes which is pretty cool.
The Sheep are Back
I was hard at work staring at my computer screen when I looked to my left and remembered that the sheep are back. They migrate back and forth all day long outside my window.
Improvisation
Edward W. Sarah
I wanted the type on this cover to convey "improvisation" and thought reflecting it in the trombone would be interesting.
I wanted the type on this cover to convey "improvisation" and thought reflecting it in the trombone would be interesting.
Pure Product
Quill and Quire, which is our version of Publishers Weekly, does a regular feature on the process of developing a cover. They asked me to do this for a recent poetry cover - Pure Product by Jason Guriel.
(A)
When I am designing a poetry cover I try and find images in the poems that lend themselves to visual expression. Pure product is a line in Guriel’s poem “Thingness.” It is not always easy for me to describe the process I go through to create an image but there was just something about these old fashioned sprinklers I found in a hardware catalogue that seemed to fit for the notion of thingness. Unfortunately it made for an unintended connection with the word “product” in the title – as if the sprinklers were the product. If the title had been “Thingness” it might have worked.
(B)
This is an evolution of the previous direction. I thought that maybe the placement of the type could remove the connection between product and sprinkler but it just created another issue. Water could be interpreted as the “Pure Product”.
(C)
This image comes from another poem in the book “Shopping Cart, Abandoned on Front Lawn”. The shadows cast by the cart on the lawn create “subdivisions the ants won’t obey” I don’t think I ever presented this one because it still made an unintended connection with the title – shopping, consumerism.
(D)
I thought the idea of using a bell jar might be interesting – isolating the pure product. The press liked the image but felt something was missing - no “ahh” moment.
FINAL
From the poem Thingness
“the necessary tubing
that defines
the nothing blowing
thru ducts.”
The image is an allusion to Magritte's “Ceci n’est pas une pipe”. By opening the straw it solves the problem I encountered with (A) and (B). The straw is not the product. It just defines the nothing blowing thru it.
I worked on the shadows of the shopping cart option (C) for almost an entire day but couldn't get it to work. It reminded me of a point earlier in my career when I was working in Montreal for a design company. I was leaving the office at the end of the day and noticed another designer was hard at work on a logo - it wasn't working and the deadline was the next day. When I came back to work the next morning she was still at work and had been there all night struggling with the same version. It made me realize that you have to listen to your inner designer voice that tells you to put it aside and try something else. It doesn't matter how much effort you have put into any given solution, if it isn't working clear your desk and start again.
This raises another issue that we as designers are always asking ourselves - is it any good? If you work alone you can't bounce ideas off your fellow designers. It sounds a little silly but I work on a solution until I like it and then I present it. You almost have to be your own audience and trust your own reaction to the work.
This cover got selected for 50 Books/50 Covers this year. There is a spot UV varnish on the wet part of the boot.
I was backing up my files and found this rejected cover for a poetry book. I was actually the one who rejected it. It wasn't the right fit for the book but interesting nonetheless.
This one is another challenge and brings up a common problem for cover designers. When you are presented with a multitude of images to use on a history book - which one or ones do you choose to best represent the book? I almost always try to avoid a collage approach, which author's seem to always suggest, and if possible find one or two that work well together. This book deals with different cultures within Canada as well so that required an added degree of sensitivity. The first sketch with the frying pan was rejected because it seemed to focus too much on the Anglosaxon-Canadian experience. I worked all morning on the new sketch (top), with the Batman soundtrack on full throttle for motivation, and opted for more of a type only approach with a cooking pot that isn't too culturally specific.
approval pending
approval pending
Catamount April, 29
One of the benefits of living on the US border is that the Adirondacks are literally in your backyard. Probably should have been working but it was such a beautiful day.
The Summit
The Summit
Just wrapped this one up. Misandry for those who don't know, including me when I was briefed on this, is the hatred of men.
This cover took a couple of kicks at the can before we settled on the this one. It falls into that category of solutions where once you come up with it you say that it can't possibly be that simple and direct - can it?
Enter the Chrysanthemum
Fiona Tinwei Lam
Even though I have baked a lot of loaves of bread in my life I still get the same thrill each time I open the oven and see finished product. The same is true for book covers. I just received this in the mail. The poet sent me a video of her reading one her beautiful poems - Chrysanthemum.
Even though I have baked a lot of loaves of bread in my life I still get the same thrill each time I open the oven and see finished product. The same is true for book covers. I just received this in the mail. The poet sent me a video of her reading one her beautiful poems - Chrysanthemum.
This one was a tough one. Paraphrasing the author: The thesis of the book is that a distinction can be made between two types of objects: one (objects of natural science) can sustain magnification; the other (objects typical of humanistic inquiry) cannot. This means that humanistic inquiry cannot match scientific inquiry. Because the objects of natural science permit magnification, we can dissect them into smaller and smaller pieces, each time discovering new, important information about them. Cultural objects, such as a photograph, will not yield to microscopic study - we generate noise, not signal.
I will admit it is kind of an odd image but I thought it made for an intriguing cover.
I will admit it is kind of an odd image but I thought it made for an intriguing cover.
The brief for this cover was to somehow convey the sense that the book is a really a conversation between two philosophers. The cover with the two chairs is the approved version.
stock image
stock image
approval pending
Do you think there is an unwritten law in graphic design that you can't put a tapeworm on the cover of a book?
Do you think there is an unwritten law in graphic design that you can't put a tapeworm on the cover of a book?
Fall 2009 catalogue cover
I love doing catalogue covers. Because they are more ephemeral than book covers you can push the limits a little further.
Thurston is one of Canada's best know nature poets. I added in the tree branches on the edge at the last minute. I was actually closing up the file when I accidentally deleted one of the of masks from another concept that I didn't present and the tree branches overlapped onto this sketch. I really like it when these kind of accidents occur. It makes you stop and look at things in a new way. I posted the other sketch that the branches came from below.
The Watch that Ends the Night
There was no budget for stock photography on this one so I shot it myself. I ran over to a friends house this morning to photograph his canoe strapped to the roof of his barn. I borrowed his lovely daughter Vanessa's hand made paddle and asked my daughter to photograph me from above in a paddling position. As I said in an earlier post this cover really resonates with me. I spent many hours canoeing in the Laurentians when I was growing up. One of my father's many gifts to me was the art of paddling a canoe.
Anatomy of a cover
Anatomy of a cover
This is a recently approved cover for a poetry book. Boxing the compass refers to the ability to memorize all 32 points on a compass. It also refers to the action of a rudderless boat which will eventually rotate in a full circle hitting all the points on a compass. The title poem deals with a father on his death bed.
Note that this is just the sketch so it is still a little rough.
So I wait with you in a crowded dark
where ageing men must revive or perish,
and wonder, my father, what under morphine
your dreams are? The old man on his ship’s deck
and you a boy among the ropes and canvas –
that hour’s sunlight over all the days you’ve seen.
I thought it would be interesting to present a small boat on the cover which also resembled a coffin. For my first sketch I actually took an image of a coffin and put in on water. It was interesting but there was something not quite right about it. It needed to be more ambiguous and the water didn't look right for Newfoundland. I found another image of an actual boat that struck the right balance.
Note that this is just the sketch so it is still a little rough.
So I wait with you in a crowded dark
where ageing men must revive or perish,
and wonder, my father, what under morphine
your dreams are? The old man on his ship’s deck
and you a boy among the ropes and canvas –
that hour’s sunlight over all the days you’ve seen.
I thought it would be interesting to present a small boat on the cover which also resembled a coffin. For my first sketch I actually took an image of a coffin and put in on water. It was interesting but there was something not quite right about it. It needed to be more ambiguous and the water didn't look right for Newfoundland. I found another image of an actual boat that struck the right balance.
Approval pending. These kind of subjects present their own challenges. How can you say something original about a subject that has been so exhaustively mined for visual ideas.
This one proved tougher than most. It is a novel about a dystopian future where livestock have become extinct. The final chosen solution is the one with the broken plate. I added the cows into the design. I think the problem with a cover like this is that when you try and approach the subject matter head on it doesn't work. The trick is to find a lateral way to approach it leaving more to the imagination of the viewer. I really liked the option with the fence and the partially obscured "i", but it was maybe a little hard to decode. A bit of a homage to Paul Rand.
Have you ever seen a more conflicted looking war hero? The book is about a French-Canadian soldier who is awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration of the British Commonwealth and is turned into a reluctant hero.
Just coming up for air. What a last couple of weeks!! This is a recent cover I worked on. Not sure it will be accepted but there was something I really liked about it. The book is about risks of globalization for the U.S. These kind of covers are always a challenge. How can you express this in a new way when there has already been so much done on this subject. I went for the world as a fish bowl with the U.S. which oddly enough looks like a gold fish when coloured orange. Maybe I am fixated on dead gold fish which I tried on another cover as well.
Another one in the works. Small format 6 x 6 with the possibility of extra colours or special printing techniques.
I am working on this one right now. The book deals with the fact that Freud didn't have the benefit of the all the advances that have been made in neuroscience than can now be used to complement analysis. I liked the fact that the brain scanning table resembled an analysts couch. It makes a nice contrast it with a victorian armchair.
Amnesty International
This is a t-shirt design I am working on. The only stipulation is that I have to use the barb wire element from their logo.
Sins of the Flesh
Rod Preece
This cover was one of several that won in the AAUP (Association of American University Presses) book and jacket show. The version on the bottom is the way the cover looked at the final stage of mechanical production. I spent about a day drawing the pig but it just wasn't working. At the eleventh hour I looked for an image in one of my royalty free books of line art and found a new pig. Thankfully the client agreed that it was an improvement. There was a time when those trusted line art books were put to good use as university presses don't usually have budgets for images. I think I will do a future post that just features those covers.
This cover was one of several that won in the AAUP (Association of American University Presses) book and jacket show. The version on the bottom is the way the cover looked at the final stage of mechanical production. I spent about a day drawing the pig but it just wasn't working. At the eleventh hour I looked for an image in one of my royalty free books of line art and found a new pig. Thankfully the client agreed that it was an improvement. There was a time when those trusted line art books were put to good use as university presses don't usually have budgets for images. I think I will do a future post that just features those covers.
This cover is progressing. The first sketch which I posted earlier met with a positive reaction with some caveats. The type treatment and overall feeling was too whimsical for the poetry. I turned up the volume and went for a harder edged feel.
2nd sketch
First sketch presented
2nd sketch
First sketch presented
Montreal's Best BYOB Restaurants
Joanna Fox
Without trying to over think this one too much, I went for a light hearted, fun approach.
Without trying to over think this one too much, I went for a light hearted, fun approach.
Amassing Power
David Massell
From the back cover: At the turn of the century American industrialist J.B. Duke set his sights on one of North America's greatest and most spectacular rivers - the Saguenay ... to develop, and sell its tremendous hydroelectric potential. I was given a stack of photos to work with and this one of Duke in a bowler hat jumped out at me. The curve of his hat and a curve in the famous river.
From the back cover: At the turn of the century American industrialist J.B. Duke set his sights on one of North America's greatest and most spectacular rivers - the Saguenay ... to develop, and sell its tremendous hydroelectric potential. I was given a stack of photos to work with and this one of Duke in a bowler hat jumped out at me. The curve of his hat and a curve in the famous river.
Another one in this ongoing series. Because showing a specific national currency wouldn't work, the problem became how do you show money without showing it?
Valgrain
Ok so it's not a book cover but how many designers can put "feed bag" on their resumés. I don't know if you know what most feed bags look like but living in farm country you see them all the time. Usually they are just one or two colours, badly printed with a generic cow or chicken graphic on them. It took a whole day on press to get the registration right but in the end it really paid off. I love it when the printer is up for a challenge. He started off by saying it couldn't be done but in his hesitation to say "absolutely not", I saw an opportunity.
Chess Pieces
David Solway
This is one from the vault. It was my first poetry cover. I had to scan all the actual chess pieces because I didn't have a camera yet.
This is one from the vault. It was my first poetry cover. I had to scan all the actual chess pieces because I didn't have a camera yet.
Catalogue covers are always a challenge which is probably why I like doing them. How can you say something new about book publishing? Do you focus instead on the seasons spring and fall and the same question still applies. For this particular year I asked my very talented wife, Gail McGowan to do two of her wire sculptures - a frog for spring and a squirrel for fall.
When I watch her work, twisting and bending the wire with speed and complete self-assuredness in the final outcome it reminds me of a story about Alexander Calder. There was to be an exhibition of his wire sculptures at a big east coast gallery. He was picked up at the train station a couple of days prior to the opening by the gallery curator. When Calder emerged from the train with only a small suitcase the curator anxiously asked where his works were. Calder pulled a large roll of wire from his bag and said "right here."
When I watch her work, twisting and bending the wire with speed and complete self-assuredness in the final outcome it reminds me of a story about Alexander Calder. There was to be an exhibition of his wire sculptures at a big east coast gallery. He was picked up at the train station a couple of days prior to the opening by the gallery curator. When Calder emerged from the train with only a small suitcase the curator anxiously asked where his works were. Calder pulled a large roll of wire from his bag and said "right here."
The Lost Franklin Expedition
I guess if you stick around long enough you not only do multiple covers for the same author but also on the same subject matter. The first is a poetry cover about the lost Franklin expedition. It is a three part fold that reveals the graves of the Franklin party on Beechey Island in the Canadian arctic on the last fold. The second book is about to be published and is a collection of letters from Lady Franklin in her quest to find out the fate of her husband.
This one required a lot of tweaking to make sure people got the idea readily. One of the last 08 covers - what a year!
Opening Doors Wider
Edited by Sylvia Bashevkin
This is another one of those covers where the title drives the design.
This is another one of those covers where the title drives the design.
Maisonneuve magazine
The Alcoholhic Monkeys of St. Kitts
I found this in my files when I was cleaning out my office. Maisonneuve is a Montreal based magazine - New Yorker with edge. It was kind of a dream job for a designer. I redesigned the entire magazine from front cover to back including the masthead. It is still going strong today. Check it out.
I found this in my files when I was cleaning out my office. Maisonneuve is a Montreal based magazine - New Yorker with edge. It was kind of a dream job for a designer. I redesigned the entire magazine from front cover to back including the masthead. It is still going strong today. Check it out.
A Fragile Social Fabric?
Raymond Breton et al.
This cover must have taken an entire day to produce. I literally had to thread each of those needles in photoshop.
This cover must have taken an entire day to produce. I literally had to thread each of those needles in photoshop.
Interview with Christopher Tobias
Technonatures
White and Wilbert, editors
This cover plays off another cover I did recently. I find this happens quite frequently where cover solutions build and play off each other.
This cover plays off another cover I did recently. I find this happens quite frequently where cover solutions build and play off each other.
Gay Male Pornography
Christopher N. Kendall
I would put this cover into the "type only with a twist" category.
I would put this cover into the "type only with a twist" category.
From the brief: "The mother, Isabel, pays the rent with an all-night job delivering newspapers out of her van. And the climactic section involves a kind of quest road trip in which Isabel, now 20, and her grandmother set out in a Volvo on a quest to find Isabel’s mother. Eventually they do find her and her van alongside a prairie road. She’s burning papers from her life alongside the road."
My first idea which really intrigued me was to use the open doors of the black van referred to in the novel as symbolic open arms. I spent a lot of time trying to find an image of a van shot from above with the doors open to no avail. I finally found a site that had diecast models of cars for sale with doors that opened and I ordered a Ford Econoline black van. I had to pick it up from my U.S. postal box and when declaring it on the way back over the border, I got involved in a conversation with the custom guy who was really into cars. For about 30 seconds there I actually felt like I was one of the guys, talking about cars. In the end he had a hard time understanding what the hell it was, that I was planning to do with it. I think he is still trying to figure it out.
The publisher in the end wanted this novel to tie into another novel by the same author that had just been shortlisted for a literary prize so we went in another direction, still using the van though. Prairie landscapes with blue skies always seem kind of corny to me. The final version has a blackened sky which works.
Final cover
This catalogue cover concept owes a debt to Woody Pirtle's great 1989 poster for the UCLA summer studies program. He crafted a palm tree out of an open book. This is book as flower for MQUP's spring 2009 catalogue. The photographs of Cara Barer also served as inspiration for this cover as well.
Suburban Legends
Joan Crate
From the brief: "the book makes an analogy between a suburban wife who is dealing with loneliness, divorce, aging, and copious amounts of winter (tons of winter imagery in this book, which I'd love for the cover to pick up on), and the character of Snow White, who sacrificed everything for the dwarves and was replaced by newer, flashier, fantasy figures.
This is the first sketch I presented.
In the end we opted for a more simplified approach with a more modern feel.
From the brief: "the book makes an analogy between a suburban wife who is dealing with loneliness, divorce, aging, and copious amounts of winter (tons of winter imagery in this book, which I'd love for the cover to pick up on), and the character of Snow White, who sacrificed everything for the dwarves and was replaced by newer, flashier, fantasy figures.
This is the first sketch I presented.
In the end we opted for a more simplified approach with a more modern feel.
An Irish History of Civilization
Don Akenson
This is a two volume series. There is nothing that original about having an image go over two covers in a series but in this case it seemed a nice way of using the image of the man in a boat on an Irish river. The boat in this case is called a 'coracle' and is specific to Ireland and Wales.
This is a two volume series. There is nothing that original about having an image go over two covers in a series but in this case it seemed a nice way of using the image of the man in a boat on an Irish river. The boat in this case is called a 'coracle' and is specific to Ireland and Wales.
I had sort of given up on using references to constructivism on a book cover design mainly because it has been done so many times. However in this case the authors asked for a Canadiana version of Soviet constructivist graphics so I went for it.
I just got asked to submit cover designs to a design competition where the entries only use classic fonts and I was reminded of this quote by Vignelli. I only use about 4 or 5 different fonts on most of my cover designs. They are, in no particular order:
New Baskerville (will go with me to the grave)
Helvetica
Futura
Trade Gothic
New Century School Book
Sundre
Christopher Willard
From the brief:
Sundre is a town in Alberta. The cover for this novel is challenging because we don’t want Prairies and grain elevators, the big sky, etc, even though they figure in the story, because the book is really about a husband and wife talking about the past—but they are both dead.
In a nutshell the concept is headboard as tombstone.
From the brief:
Sundre is a town in Alberta. The cover for this novel is challenging because we don’t want Prairies and grain elevators, the big sky, etc, even though they figure in the story, because the book is really about a husband and wife talking about the past—but they are both dead.
In a nutshell the concept is headboard as tombstone.
Hugh MacLennan Series
Here are the final two in this series. Each Man's Son is a novel set in Cape Breton in a coal mining community. It features a violent death near the end of the novel. The son's father, a failed boxer, kills his mother. The image of the coal cart underground evokes a coffin
The Return of Sphinx is a novel about a prominent Canadian politician whose career is destroyed when his son gets involved in the separatist movement in Quebec and is arrested for making a bomb. The revolt of youth against parental authority. The crushed smoking pipe seems like the right image to suggest this.
I couldn't put my finger on why the image of the canoe viewed from above on the cover of The Watch That End's the Night resonated so strongly for me. Then I realized that it reminded me of what was probably the seminal book of my childhood, Paddle to the Sea. An indian boy carves a wooden canoe and leaves in on a mountain top in the spring. The book follows its journey to the sea.
The Return of Sphinx is a novel about a prominent Canadian politician whose career is destroyed when his son gets involved in the separatist movement in Quebec and is arrested for making a bomb. The revolt of youth against parental authority. The crushed smoking pipe seems like the right image to suggest this.
I couldn't put my finger on why the image of the canoe viewed from above on the cover of The Watch That End's the Night resonated so strongly for me. Then I realized that it reminded me of what was probably the seminal book of my childhood, Paddle to the Sea. An indian boy carves a wooden canoe and leaves in on a mountain top in the spring. The book follows its journey to the sea.
Pedaling Revolution
Jeff Mapes
A straight up solution for this cover seemed to be what was called for. The tricky part was finding the right cyclist. I must have gone through about 800 Royalty Free stock images to find a cyclist that didn't look like a Tour de France wannabe.
A straight up solution for this cover seemed to be what was called for. The tricky part was finding the right cyclist. I must have gone through about 800 Royalty Free stock images to find a cyclist that didn't look like a Tour de France wannabe.
I leapt at the chance to design this series of four novels by Hugh MacLennan. These are the first two with two more to go. The seminal Canadian novel Two Solitudes is a romance that traverses the language divide between the english and french cultures. Each cover will have a linear graphic element. In the case of Two Solitudes it is the intersection of St. Lawrence Boulevard and Sherbrooke Streets. This is the historical dividing line between english and french Montreal.
This was actually my first idea for the series but I put it aside to explore the approach below. It was rightly rejected for not looking enough like a fiction series. I liked the idea of showing an abstract graphic "M" that would tie the series together. I don't know how many of you are familiar with Paprika, the Montreal design firm. Their work is incredibly distinctive and has a look and feel that is very specific to Montreal. This first approach has a bit of that feel to it which I felt would be appropriate for this series. In retrospect I think it was too monolithic.
I think this approach is interesting because the two pairings are not how they originally seem to appear.
Just got approved. This is a poetry cover and this is the part of the poem that inspired it:
...It’s the doorstopper-
ability of phonebooks,
the necessary tubing
that defines
the nothing blowing
thru ducts.
It’s the word “through”
spelled with “u.”
It’s all such
pure products.
This cover just got approved. It will be printed on semi translucent paper over a printed case. It is the story a marijuana smuggler in the caribbean. The smuggler's name appears in the negative spaces of the marijuana leaves on the printed case. The three horizontal lines represent the distinguishing markings they but on their shipments.
Blood Pudding
Art Corriveau
This is a book of short stories. The title story was the inspiration for the cover. The lead character Paul had a Mémère (word for grandmother in Quebec) and he remembers a painful episode from this childhood. "She sat in that rocking chair in the kitchen. I was always afraid to find her in there alone. She would pull up her dress so that I could stand closer to her, between her legs. She would call me her little bonhomme. Would kiss me on the lips..." I ordered this vintage apron online and photographed it for the cover.
This is a book of short stories. The title story was the inspiration for the cover. The lead character Paul had a Mémère (word for grandmother in Quebec) and he remembers a painful episode from this childhood. "She sat in that rocking chair in the kitchen. I was always afraid to find her in there alone. She would pull up her dress so that I could stand closer to her, between her legs. She would call me her little bonhomme. Would kiss me on the lips..." I ordered this vintage apron online and photographed it for the cover.
This is an illustration I did for a cover about the use of wire-tapping on American cititzens. I am working on a second concept which I think will be the chosen one in the end.
Another one for the salon des refusés
I am working on this one right now. It is a book of poetry. This jar of used birthday candles is in one of my cupboards and I've been waiting for the right book to use it on.
Good to a Fault
Marina Endicott
This book is short listed for a Giller prize. The main character is an older woman who is involved in a car accident with another vehicule. From the back cover: "Absorbed in her own failings, Clara Purdy crashes her life into a sharp left turn, taking the young family in the other car along with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara—against all habit and comfort—moves the three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house." She becomes a surrogate mother to the children which as the novel progresses gives her life a new richness and meaning. It is fleeting however as the mother of the children eventually recovers and takes back her children.
The idea for this cover came from a wall in our house where our kids marked their heights from an early age. I am sure the same wall can be found in any house with children. In the case of the wall markings on the cover there is only one or two entries, as it were, because the children were not there long enough. Her experience echoes that of any parent. Your children pass through your life and then they are gone, leaving behind only remnants of their presence.
This book is short listed for a Giller prize. The main character is an older woman who is involved in a car accident with another vehicule. From the back cover: "Absorbed in her own failings, Clara Purdy crashes her life into a sharp left turn, taking the young family in the other car along with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara—against all habit and comfort—moves the three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house." She becomes a surrogate mother to the children which as the novel progresses gives her life a new richness and meaning. It is fleeting however as the mother of the children eventually recovers and takes back her children.
The idea for this cover came from a wall in our house where our kids marked their heights from an early age. I am sure the same wall can be found in any house with children. In the case of the wall markings on the cover there is only one or two entries, as it were, because the children were not there long enough. Her experience echoes that of any parent. Your children pass through your life and then they are gone, leaving behind only remnants of their presence.
Everything You Know about Indians Is Wrong
Paul Chaat Smith
This has already been posted but there are two updates. The author gave his approval and I made contact with the photographer who is letting me use the image. Here is what the author had to say: "The solution you've provided combines the issues of representation, history, museums, and art in one striking and elegant package. Although my approval is not required, if it were this concept has my enthusiastic endorsement." Part of what I love about doing cover design is where a design can take you. I often find images all over the internet and with a bit of determination I can usually track down the photographer and get permission to use the image. It presents a nice alternative to only relying on Royalty Free stock. Thanks to faboo mama for the photograph. Check out her blog.
2nd option presented
This has already been posted but there are two updates. The author gave his approval and I made contact with the photographer who is letting me use the image. Here is what the author had to say: "The solution you've provided combines the issues of representation, history, museums, and art in one striking and elegant package. Although my approval is not required, if it were this concept has my enthusiastic endorsement." Part of what I love about doing cover design is where a design can take you. I often find images all over the internet and with a bit of determination I can usually track down the photographer and get permission to use the image. It presents a nice alternative to only relying on Royalty Free stock. Thanks to faboo mama for the photograph. Check out her blog.
2nd option presented
Chicle
Jennifer P. Matthews
The publisher wanted something punchy and fun as befits the subject. It took a bit of convincing but the the repeating cover type, which is kind of key for the packaging concept, made it into the final design.
This is the art that I used to create new pack.
The publisher wanted something punchy and fun as befits the subject. It took a bit of convincing but the the repeating cover type, which is kind of key for the packaging concept, made it into the final design.
This is the art that I used to create new pack.
Fair Bananas
Henry J. Frundt
The "banana type" one below was the first one I presented but in the end the simpler and stronger concept won out.
The "banana type" one below was the first one I presented but in the end the simpler and stronger concept won out.
Another type only cover. This is the final accepted version.
I presented this one knowing that it wouldn't be accepted but felt I had to at least show it. What is the simplest way to show "Morality Without God?" Leave "God" off the cover. Having it on the spine reinforces the concept.
How many authors have suggested using the "scales of justice". This time it was my idea. I wanted to see if there was an original way to do it.
I presented this one knowing that it wouldn't be accepted but felt I had to at least show it. What is the simplest way to show "Morality Without God?" Leave "God" off the cover. Having it on the spine reinforces the concept.
How many authors have suggested using the "scales of justice". This time it was my idea. I wanted to see if there was an original way to do it.
Identity/Difference Politics
Rita Dhamoon
Another 2 colour cover. Just got approved. This is from the brief: "The three main ideas are the production of differences which don't take full form, interactions between identities, and disruption." The author wanted me to try the idea of movement caught on slow camera which would be one way of expressing her central arguments.
Another 2 colour cover. Just got approved. This is from the brief: "The three main ideas are the production of differences which don't take full form, interactions between identities, and disruption." The author wanted me to try the idea of movement caught on slow camera which would be one way of expressing her central arguments.
The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem
Peter Swirski
From the back cover: "In The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem, American and European scholars offer an inter-disciplinary analysis of his influence on Western culture and of the creative partnering of art and science in his fiction and futorology". For this type only cover I wanted to add the notion of discovery and examination.
From the back cover: "In The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem, American and European scholars offer an inter-disciplinary analysis of his influence on Western culture and of the creative partnering of art and science in his fiction and futorology". For this type only cover I wanted to add the notion of discovery and examination.
Pragmatism and Social Hope
Judith Green
Green maps a contemporary form of citizenship that emphasizes participation and cooperation and reclaims the critical role of social movements and nongovernmental organizations. The challenge for this cover was to find a new way of expressing the notion of different entities coming together to form a group without resorting to the usual visual clichés.
Green maps a contemporary form of citizenship that emphasizes participation and cooperation and reclaims the critical role of social movements and nongovernmental organizations. The challenge for this cover was to find a new way of expressing the notion of different entities coming together to form a group without resorting to the usual visual clichés.
A Long Eclipse
Catherine Gidney
From the back cover copy: "Gidney shows that the decline of the Protestant presence on University campuses started with the swirling moral kaleidoscope of the 1960s." I decided to do a type-only cover with a twist. The "U" is emerging from an eclipse.
From the back cover copy: "Gidney shows that the decline of the Protestant presence on University campuses started with the swirling moral kaleidoscope of the 1960s." I decided to do a type-only cover with a twist. The "U" is emerging from an eclipse.
Nunavut
Rethinking Political Culture
Ailsa Henderson
Nunavut is the new Canadian territory that was established in April 1999. That date appears on the bottom of the license plate.
Ailsa Henderson
Nunavut is the new Canadian territory that was established in April 1999. That date appears on the bottom of the license plate.
Chef
Jaspreet Singh
This is the second cover I have done for this writer. 17 Tomatoes was the first one. Jaspreet was involved in the creative process for both covers in ways that really added a lot to the final result. After I came up with concept of using a red cricket ball to tie into the "red tomatoes" from the title of 17 Tomatoes, Jaspreet tracked down an actual cricket ball and suggested using the tiger as an appropriate image.
Chef takes places on the Siachen Glacier on the border between India and Pakistan. This disputed territory is a war zone on the top of the world. From the cover copy: "Chef Kirpal, seriously ill, returns to Kashmir after a gap of fourteen years to cook a wedding meal for a General's daughter." His father is buried in a cravace inside the glacier and he is also on a journey to excavate the body. The first sketch I did using spices and a piece of ice was not representative of the novel. In my discussion with Jaspreet he explained that Chef had another important meaning that I was missing - a military commander. The second option I presented showed the actual glacier and had a feeling of drama that I really liked. I was getting close but it was still laking another dimension. I found the image of a cravace on the Siachen Glacier on the website of an Indian photographer. He gave us permission to use it after 2 or 3 attempts at navigating the language barrier. For once the use of "a novel" is not a gratuitous design element. It indicates the point that is the focus of his journey. He would like to excavate a part of his past that has kept him moving forward.
option 1
option2
This is the second cover I have done for this writer. 17 Tomatoes was the first one. Jaspreet was involved in the creative process for both covers in ways that really added a lot to the final result. After I came up with concept of using a red cricket ball to tie into the "red tomatoes" from the title of 17 Tomatoes, Jaspreet tracked down an actual cricket ball and suggested using the tiger as an appropriate image.
Chef takes places on the Siachen Glacier on the border between India and Pakistan. This disputed territory is a war zone on the top of the world. From the cover copy: "Chef Kirpal, seriously ill, returns to Kashmir after a gap of fourteen years to cook a wedding meal for a General's daughter." His father is buried in a cravace inside the glacier and he is also on a journey to excavate the body. The first sketch I did using spices and a piece of ice was not representative of the novel. In my discussion with Jaspreet he explained that Chef had another important meaning that I was missing - a military commander. The second option I presented showed the actual glacier and had a feeling of drama that I really liked. I was getting close but it was still laking another dimension. I found the image of a cravace on the Siachen Glacier on the website of an Indian photographer. He gave us permission to use it after 2 or 3 attempts at navigating the language barrier. For once the use of "a novel" is not a gratuitous design element. It indicates the point that is the focus of his journey. He would like to excavate a part of his past that has kept him moving forward.
option 1
option2
Clowns and Rats Scare Me
Cary Clack
This is a collections of Columns by Cary Clack. Every once in a while you are given a title for a book that is so strong that it practically drives the design process. I wanted to find the simplest way of combining clowns and rats in a single concept. I only presented this one cover concept. Just got the word that cover is approved.
This is a collections of Columns by Cary Clack. Every once in a while you are given a title for a book that is so strong that it practically drives the design process. I wanted to find the simplest way of combining clowns and rats in a single concept. I only presented this one cover concept. Just got the word that cover is approved.
Ellington Uptown
John Howland
Originally I intended to make the cover look like a vintage NY subway car with all the type worked into the signage. It seemed a little predictable so I went with his famous orchestra in the shape of an arrow pointing up. I wanted it to emulate a jazz poster from the era.
Originally I intended to make the cover look like a vintage NY subway car with all the type worked into the signage. It seemed a little predictable so I went with his famous orchestra in the shape of an arrow pointing up. I wanted it to emulate a jazz poster from the era.
Circling Home
John Lane
From the cover copy: "Centering an old, chipped saucer over his home, he traced a circle one mile in radius and set out to explore the area. Circling Home recounts the ‘adventure travel’ he does within that circle." Some covers do themselves. I found a chipped saucer in my kitchen cupboard and traced out a one mile radius circle on a satellite image of the author's home.
From the cover copy: "Centering an old, chipped saucer over his home, he traced a circle one mile in radius and set out to explore the area. Circling Home recounts the ‘adventure travel’ he does within that circle." Some covers do themselves. I found a chipped saucer in my kitchen cupboard and traced out a one mile radius circle on a satellite image of the author's home.
This is book about wealth and privilege in New York city at the turn of the last century. I must have spent an entire afternoon trying to get the concept with the white glove laid over a period map of the Bronx to work but gave up in the end. Maps have been used so much on cover designs that it is very hard to use them in an original way. I ended up using the type "The Bronx" from the legend of the map so all was not lost. It still needs some refinement but the general concept is there.
Living Waters
Margaret Wooster
When you are doing covers for University Presses you rarely have the budget for stock photography. I created this cover out of four Shutterstock images (below). Shutterstock, for those who don't know, is a royalty free subscription image service.
When you are doing covers for University Presses you rarely have the budget for stock photography. I created this cover out of four Shutterstock images (below). Shutterstock, for those who don't know, is a royalty free subscription image service.
The Woman Who Mapped Labrador
Mina Hubbard
In 1905 Mina Hubbard became the first woman to cross Labrador, in a canoe, ending her epic voyage in Ungava Bay in Canada's subarctic. I superimposed a map of her route onto a paddle. The cover is matte laminated with gloss UV on the paddle. It was a bit of a challenge dealing with all that text - four author names!
detail of paddle
In 1905 Mina Hubbard became the first woman to cross Labrador, in a canoe, ending her epic voyage in Ungava Bay in Canada's subarctic. I superimposed a map of her route onto a paddle. The cover is matte laminated with gloss UV on the paddle. It was a bit of a challenge dealing with all that text - four author names!
detail of paddle
The Collectors of Lost Souls
Warwick Anderson
Sometimes you get such a great image to work with that your only job as a cover designer is to get out of the way.
Sometimes you get such a great image to work with that your only job as a cover designer is to get out of the way.
The Last Well Person
Norton M. Hadler M.D.
I found this Dr. Suess-like image and thought it could work really well for this cover. The only thing I added was the hospital signage above. This cover was a tough one to strike just the right chord.
I found this Dr. Suess-like image and thought it could work really well for this cover. The only thing I added was the hospital signage above. This cover was a tough one to strike just the right chord.
The Indian Who Bombed Berlin
Ralph Salisbury
This book of stories deals with the horrors of war. These covers represent two executions of the same idea. I only presented the one with the illustrated clouds and blue sky because I wasn't happy with the monochromatic feel the other one. I also like the contrast with the beautiful blue sky and the impending devastation. I found the painting of sky with clouds and added the bombs.
This book of stories deals with the horrors of war. These covers represent two executions of the same idea. I only presented the one with the illustrated clouds and blue sky because I wasn't happy with the monochromatic feel the other one. I also like the contrast with the beautiful blue sky and the impending devastation. I found the painting of sky with clouds and added the bombs.
The Art of Living Series
I just finished number nine in this series of philosophy books published in the UK.
These are some of the ones that got away
These are some of the ones that got away
After the Cure
The Untold Stories of Breast Cancer Survivors
Fatigue. Chronic pain. Insomnia. Depression. These are just a few of the ongoing, debilitating symptoms that plague some breast-cancer survivors long after their treatments have officially ended. This is a very simple, direct solution - frayed survivor ribbon. For some covers an idea comes to you and you think, "Is this too obvious a solution?" Once I came up with it though I couldn't think of a better solution.
Fatigue. Chronic pain. Insomnia. Depression. These are just a few of the ongoing, debilitating symptoms that plague some breast-cancer survivors long after their treatments have officially ended. This is a very simple, direct solution - frayed survivor ribbon. For some covers an idea comes to you and you think, "Is this too obvious a solution?" Once I came up with it though I couldn't think of a better solution.
Imprint logos
I started my career by being immersed in corporate identity work (Domtar logo c.1999). I still love doing logo designs and all the more when they overlap with my second love - book cover design.
These are imprint logos I designed for two small independent Canadian publishers.
These are imprint logos I designed for two small independent Canadian publishers.
The Steppes are the Colour of Sepia
Connie Braun
From the back cover copy: "... invites the reader to embark on a journey that traces the paths of ancestral memory over the steppes of the Russian empire to the valleys of Canada’s Fraser River." The smaller images below show the order of presented sketches. I really liked the idea of a mennonite carriage being left behind with the horse running away. The problem with this one and the other ones that followed was that I was using imagery that most Canadians associate with mennonites but they were fundamentally inaccurate. Here is comment from author : "Such imagery belongs to the Amish strain that immigrated from the Netherlands to North America in the 1700's (prior to the beginning of my story) and have nothing at all to do with my heritage ... the Russian/Soviet Mennontites of this story did not wear costumes, they assimilated - they had to, under communism."
The final accepted cover shows a red scarf blowing over the Russian Steppe.
From the back cover copy: "... invites the reader to embark on a journey that traces the paths of ancestral memory over the steppes of the Russian empire to the valleys of Canada’s Fraser River." The smaller images below show the order of presented sketches. I really liked the idea of a mennonite carriage being left behind with the horse running away. The problem with this one and the other ones that followed was that I was using imagery that most Canadians associate with mennonites but they were fundamentally inaccurate. Here is comment from author : "Such imagery belongs to the Amish strain that immigrated from the Netherlands to North America in the 1700's (prior to the beginning of my story) and have nothing at all to do with my heritage ... the Russian/Soviet Mennontites of this story did not wear costumes, they assimilated - they had to, under communism."
The final accepted cover shows a red scarf blowing over the Russian Steppe.
Crisis of Conscience
Amy Shaw
This cover is just going through as I write this. The first sketch is below. Usually when you get an e-mail from a publisher stating that the author showed the sketch to some designer friends, you know your cover is in for a rough ride. In this case the suggestions really helped and made for a better cover. I had intended the cover to look like a typical recruiting poster from the period but that wasn't coming through enough in the first sketch. The choice between whether to fight or resist was also not being conveyed strongly enough.
This cover is just going through as I write this. The first sketch is below. Usually when you get an e-mail from a publisher stating that the author showed the sketch to some designer friends, you know your cover is in for a rough ride. In this case the suggestions really helped and made for a better cover. I had intended the cover to look like a typical recruiting poster from the period but that wasn't coming through enough in the first sketch. The choice between whether to fight or resist was also not being conveyed strongly enough.
Mapping Marriage Law In Spanish Gitano Communities
Susan Drummond
From the back cover copy: "... through small- and large-scale studies of Gitano marriage law in a modern urban centre, and in particular communities and families." This is a map of Jerez, Spain with two wedding bands integrated into it. The author in this case is my sister and this is her second book. I owe her a debt of gratitude because she recommended me for my first cover design job - her first book.
From the back cover copy: "... through small- and large-scale studies of Gitano marriage law in a modern urban centre, and in particular communities and families." This is a map of Jerez, Spain with two wedding bands integrated into it. The author in this case is my sister and this is her second book. I owe her a debt of gratitude because she recommended me for my first cover design job - her first book.
Animal's People
Indra Sinha
Animal is the main character in this novel. As a child he was horribly disfigured by the explosion of a pesticide chemical facility, not unlike the incident in Bhopal. As a result he can only walk on all fours.
Animal is the main character in this novel. As a child he was horribly disfigured by the explosion of a pesticide chemical facility, not unlike the incident in Bhopal. As a result he can only walk on all fours.
Writing in the Cegeps
Zsolt Alapi
Just sending this one off to the printers. Cegeps are post secondary colleges in Quebec. It is a collection of student writing.
This is the original photo. St. Catherine Street Montreal. Editor found it a bit drab and had an aversion to the pigeons so I added different facade and threw in a fire hydrant.
Just sending this one off to the printers. Cegeps are post secondary colleges in Quebec. It is a collection of student writing.
This is the original photo. St. Catherine Street Montreal. Editor found it a bit drab and had an aversion to the pigeons so I added different facade and threw in a fire hydrant.
The Torontonians
Phyllis Brett Young
The book was brought back into print and they wanted a new cover. For a while I considered using most of the original cover with slight alterations but decided against it in the end. I kept the illustration of the woman whose martini glass morphs into the Toronto City Hall building in Nathan Phillips Squrare.
The book was brought back into print and they wanted a new cover. For a while I considered using most of the original cover with slight alterations but decided against it in the end. I kept the illustration of the woman whose martini glass morphs into the Toronto City Hall building in Nathan Phillips Squrare.
House of Houses
Pat Mora
This is a memoir of a Mexican-American family. From the back cover: “Mora uses the image of a house—the house of houses—during a single year, a fruitful metaphor that allows her to dwell on the bright beauty of flowers, birds, and trees, emblems of the loving legacy of her nurturing family.” The house is imagined floating in the sky. I liked the idea of using a collage of family photographs arranged in the shape of a house.
This was the other option presented.
This is a memoir of a Mexican-American family. From the back cover: “Mora uses the image of a house—the house of houses—during a single year, a fruitful metaphor that allows her to dwell on the bright beauty of flowers, birds, and trees, emblems of the loving legacy of her nurturing family.” The house is imagined floating in the sky. I liked the idea of using a collage of family photographs arranged in the shape of a house.
This was the other option presented.
Exposed
Mark Schapiro
This one was a tough one. The book deals with the global power shift that has occurred in environmental legislation from the U.S. to the E.U. The soft plastic that is found in rubber duckies is considered toxic in Europe but not yet in the United States. The author and publisher felt first concept didn't show the international aspect of the issue. I tried other directions but in the end came back to the first direction and added the globe element and played up the part of the subtitle that gets to the heart of the matter.
This one was a tough one. The book deals with the global power shift that has occurred in environmental legislation from the U.S. to the E.U. The soft plastic that is found in rubber duckies is considered toxic in Europe but not yet in the United States. The author and publisher felt first concept didn't show the international aspect of the issue. I tried other directions but in the end came back to the first direction and added the globe element and played up the part of the subtitle that gets to the heart of the matter.
Writing the Everyday
Women's Textual Communities in Atlantic Canada
Danielle Fuller
As with most of my covers I did my own photography on this one.
Danielle Fuller
As with most of my covers I did my own photography on this one.
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