A Novel Cover Up is a semi-regular feature that looks at how covers are made. I have been fortunate enough to interview author and Book Cover Illustrator, Richard Collingridge about how he designed the cover for Keras by Simon Rae - and talks about a few other covers he's designed, too! All images in this post are copyrighted to Richard Collingridge and used with permission. They can be clicked to enlarge.
Can you tell us about the cover for Keras? What do you hope it tells readers about the story?I always try and narrate a point in the story with my cover designs.
Sometimes I'll use the title font (101) as the point of interest for the image (an example being the hardcover of 'Trash' by Andy Mulligan) and the illustration will just be a decoration around that. Other times I'll use the characters as the point of interest and mainly rely on the feeling created by the lighting, composition and artwork style.
When It Snows by Richard Collingridge (review copy) - When everything grinds to a halt because of the snow, one small boy and his teddy bear refuse to allow the weather to spoil their fun. They embark on an amazing journey in which they ride a polar bear and meet huge snowmen, an ice queen, fairies, elves, a giant reindeer and Father Christmas.
