This is a three volume biography of the life of Samuel de Champlain from his early years in France to all of his voyages to the new world. For me the challenge with this kind of material is how to present it in a fresh way. I thought it would interesting to use the same portrait of Champlain going from far to close - France to New France.
approval pending
I designed this cover a couple of years ago.
I knew there would be a second companion book down the line but put off working the details of how they would fit together until later. Well later finally arrived. I like these kind of challenges. You have to work within certain parameters but still find a creative solution.
Both books deal with history of imperialism, capitalism and decolonization. From the brief : “the American empire of possessive individualism” with its pervasive monoculture of corporate privatization” that incorporated Indian territory into ‘the ethos and laws of the empire of private property.”
I picked up on the horizontal bands from the American flag in the first volume, by showing horizontal plots of fenced-off land.
I designed this cover a couple of years ago.
I knew there would be a second companion book down the line but put off working the details of how they would fit together until later. Well later finally arrived. I like these kind of challenges. You have to work within certain parameters but still find a creative solution.
Both books deal with history of imperialism, capitalism and decolonization. From the brief : “the American empire of possessive individualism” with its pervasive monoculture of corporate privatization” that incorporated Indian territory into ‘the ethos and laws of the empire of private property.”
I picked up on the horizontal bands from the American flag in the first volume, by showing horizontal plots of fenced-off land.
Elgin Identity
I recently did the identity for the small town where I live. Even though I have been doing this for a while I still get a kick out of seeing my work in a bookstore or in this case on the side of a truck.
Brain Books
I seem to have found a niche doing covers about the brain. This is one that I am working on now about debilitating head aches. We are going in a different direction now but I thought this one was interesting.
Last Cover Sketch of the Decade
Approval Pending
The book deals with the final less humorous years of Twain's life
I thought it would interesting to put his portrait on the spine.
The book deals with the final less humorous years of Twain's life
I thought it would interesting to put his portrait on the spine.
Christmas 2009
Beau was hit by a car just before Christmas and after a week in the animal hospital spent the holidays convalescing on the living room floor. Our other dog isn't up for long walks in the snow so up on my shoulders she goes.
Another Way the River Has
Robin Cody
The author recommended this photo for the cover of the book:
The risk was that the cover might look too sentimental or clichéd but I thought there could be an interesting way of making the splashes interact with the title. The photo was manipulated quite a bit to make everything fit. I changed the shirt colour as well to give it a bit more punch.
The author recommended this photo for the cover of the book:
The risk was that the cover might look too sentimental or clichéd but I thought there could be an interesting way of making the splashes interact with the title. The photo was manipulated quite a bit to make everything fit. I changed the shirt colour as well to give it a bit more punch.
The author was asked to write 44 letters about the modern world for the Italian daily newspaper, La Republicca which published them serially. The letters capture a world which is in a constant state of flux. The number 44 is made up of the falling letters.
I wasn't sure how I was going to photograph this one to convey the feeling of falling envelopes. I actually started to construct a mobile of envelopes that I was going to photograph from below and then I thought there might be an easier way.
I wasn't sure how I was going to photograph this one to convey the feeling of falling envelopes. I actually started to construct a mobile of envelopes that I was going to photograph from below and then I thought there might be an easier way.
Series, series, series....
We all have to do them once in a while and it is always a challenge. This one is about the geopolitics of resources. I wanted to create a very simple, bold, graphic look for this. The global aspect comes through in the circular element on each cover where the resource is featured.
Managed Annihilation
Dean Bavington
From the brief: The commercial cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador was once the most successful in the world. When it collapsed in 1992 – causing the largest single-day layoff in Canadian history and irrevocable ecological damage – fishermen, scholars, and scientists pointed to the state management of the fishery as the cause.
From the brief: The commercial cod fishery in Newfoundland and Labrador was once the most successful in the world. When it collapsed in 1992 – causing the largest single-day layoff in Canadian history and irrevocable ecological damage – fishermen, scholars, and scientists pointed to the state management of the fishery as the cause.
Circus
Michael Harris
This is the rough sketch that was approved. I am going to have to photograph the detritus in the foreground and integrate it a bit better. It wasn't on the original image.
This is the rough sketch that was approved. I am going to have to photograph the detritus in the foreground and integrate it a bit better. It wasn't on the original image.
Strange Bedfellows
This one evolved a bit. The client felt the two books under the same jacket wasn't obvious enough and that it needed to be punchier.
approval pending
I liked the idea of a countdown of stamps denoting the "strange death" of britishness in Canada. These stamps come from the period covered in the book - expo 67. Expo was billed as Canada's coming out party on the world stage but our ties to britain were still very much evident as these commemorative stamps suggest. Still working on the type - not quite there yet.
I liked the idea of a countdown of stamps denoting the "strange death" of britishness in Canada. These stamps come from the period covered in the book - expo 67. Expo was billed as Canada's coming out party on the world stage but our ties to britain were still very much evident as these commemorative stamps suggest. Still working on the type - not quite there yet.
This was the first sketch I presented and it kind of received a lukewarm reception. I decided to go back to one of my original ideas. I liked the idea of a bullet slicing through a rope used for ringing a church bell. Church bells are melted down into bullets in wartime so I liked the visual metaphor but I was having trouble getting the right feel for it. The version below looks like a chessy stock image.
In the end I went for an illustrative approach. I often get asked about my work process and I am always at a loss for words. I just thought of the perfect way to describe it. I just keep slogging away at it until it stops looking cheesy.
Boxing the Compass
Richard Greene
Off to the printer
I did the sketch quite a while back.
The photo comes from a travel site I found on the web by Gemeah Howarth-Hockey
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. The boat on the cover has a coffin shape which I thought was perfect.
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
Off to the printer
I did the sketch quite a while back.
The photo comes from a travel site I found on the web by Gemeah Howarth-Hockey
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. The boat on the cover has a coffin shape which I thought was perfect.
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
This is a book about Buddhism in Canada. The authors wanted geese on the cover. My goal was to find an unusual way of presenting them.
I think it would almost be impossible to produce an interesting cover using Canada geese from the typical vantage point below. Like all of our national symbols they have been over utilized.
I think it would almost be impossible to produce an interesting cover using Canada geese from the typical vantage point below. Like all of our national symbols they have been over utilized.
Spring Catalogue cover
One of the issues with doing press catalogue covers is that you are actually designing the spring cover in the fall. We had a severe frost last night so there aren't many flowers left. This was the last one still hanging on.
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