The artists behind the years most eye-catching covers dissect their sometimes torturous process.
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How long and snakelike should their necks be?
How narrow their eyes?
How prominent their teeth?
So I came up with the idea of a painting with a blade piercing through it.
Which is his super-polite way of saying, could you try something else?
Once I read the manuscript, I realized he was right.
All these strange things happen at night.
And of course, Murakami is always talking about the moon.
I worked up a sample cover showing how the jacket would be torn and distressed.
After Kyle worked his magic, I added naturalistic tears and scuffs, especially along the edges.
We didnt want to show the monster on the cover.
This was an early attempt from [designer] Nicolas Ortega.
There was no way this cover wasnt going to have a Great Dane on it.
I think part of the strength of this jacket is its paring down to the bare minimum.
My first ideas were full of cliches: designs based on the Japanese flag, geishas, typography.
We tried to use one of his posters, but unfortunately we couldnt get permission.
I tried creating my own illustration in the style of Tanaka, but it just didnt feel authentic.
CalledDont Give Up Japan, the paintings aim to show a positive side to life in his native land.
Its authentic, just like the stories inside the book.
After we changed the title, I picked a different story for inspiration The Lion & the Spider.
I used stock images.
I believe the lion is an antique engraving from the 18th century and the spider is something similar.
Once you get your image, a lot of the design process is cropping.
That part is essential: What are you presenting to the audience?
I wanted the colors to be moody.
in that process it will stand out on the table.
There was a clear favorite from the three sent.
Her expression is priceless.
We were all in agreement about that.
The modern punch in treatment was needed to avoid the whole package looking historical.
Ottessa requested the neon pink.
4.Emergency Contact, by Mary H.K.
Choi (Simon & Schuster), illustration by GG
This was a smooth-sailing cover.
Mary Choi tossed out a bunch of ideas about what it could be.
She also sent along a couple of artists for inspiration, including Edward Gorey and Egon Schiele.
GG is just a genius, and her first round was super-close to what we wanted.
We tweaked the characters and their positions a little.
We tried it all ways facing each other, facing away from each other.
It was a bit torturous.
I think the challenge was the unique situation.
The literary agent was the president of a record label.
The first-time author was in prison.
A skull has been done so many times before, so at first I tried avoiding it.
I later realized it was just about showing one in a new and interesting way.
Hes a cherry drug addict.
And the stars in combo with the skull could reference Americas hidden darker corners.
One of my desires was to slip inside of her brain and draw the world that she saw.
She became my art director.
She was wonderful at it.
Ursula would make a comment like, Those robes on Ged look a little bit too Gandalf-y.
I went through maybe a dozen different dragons.
She was wonderful and opinionated and cranky and very intelligent.
Dragons were so important to her.
I think it was the fierceness of them and the flight.
I think shed like to have flown.
Throughout the books, dragons were described in various colors.
They were red and blue and they had all these color facets to them.
We also had a discussion on whether Id do the scales.
I chose not to because it ends up putting too many details into the picture.
If people want to see the scales, they see them.
The one on the book was the clear favorite.
Within the first few chapters of reading, the specific idea popped into my mind.
So much of it is about Korede having to clean up after her sisters murders.
I went through hundreds of images, and then, eventually, one spoke to me.
The look on the womans face just really worked, and I added the reflection in the glasses.
I heavily manipulated the colors and the saturation, because I wanted it to be bold and eye-catching.
There were some minor changes with the fonts Oyinkan wanted the jot down to be more playful.
The neon green definitely screams at you.
Michael Windsor
All interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.
