Henry James

A few months ago I had the honor of participating in Coralie Bickford-Smith's Penguin English Library series. The series is a set of 100 paperback classics, each with an illustrated pattern on the cover, inspired by Coralie's template for the uber-successful clothbound classics.

Here are my two covers for the American-born Henry James and his aristocratic shenanigans:

Special thanks to Coralie for the ideal assignment and wonderful art direction.

Little Book of Lettering

Last year I was asked by Emily Gregory to contribute some lettering work for a new book project she was working on. Today she's announced The Little Book of Lettering is now available for pre-order from Chronicle Books. A lot of great contemporary artists contributed work, so it looks like this is going to be a pretty nifty little collection.

If you're in the UK, you can get it from Bloomsbury under the title Reinventing Lettering.

Storm Cats

Bleak Expectations

Constable & Robinson recently contacted me to design the upcoming hardcover adaptation of Mark Evans' Bleak Expectations – a Radio 4 comedy series which parodies the work of Charles Dickens. The story pokes fun at all the familiar stereotypes: asylum-ridden mothers, pitiful orphans, cruel headmasters, and so on.

Anyway, the book has plenty of material to work with, and the art director Sarah Castleton was very encouraging about making the cover both beautiful and funny. I did a few sketches utilizing classic motifs of victorian design, with a comedic twist and plenty of little details to look for:



The dark blue sketch was approved, with the decision to quiet down the gold decorations a bit.



And there you have it.

From the Vault

I was digging through my old files today, and found a few illustrations that were done 2-3 years ago.
None of them have ever seen the light of day...until now!
Enjoy:

Arabian Nights

I forgot to add this to yesterday's update: Tales of the Arabian Nights jacket for Castle Books.

Vinyl Menace

New Spot illustration for a Cowbell Magazine article about nonsensical "return of vinyl".

Print 20 Under 30

I'm very honored to be chosen by Print Magazine as one of this year's "20 under 30". Every year the magazine features 20 artists and designers under the age of 30. I've always looked forward to this issue, so it's like a dream come true to actually be part of it.







And I didn't even know this until I got my hands on a copy, but in the back they have a write-up about Vintage UK's 3D classics, under a picture of my Jules Verne cover. Exciting stuff!

HOW Magazine

Well I guess this is just the month of Magazines. I have my very own page in the newest issue of HOW, alongside many of the best young designers out there.

Happy Holidays