A book cover illustration and layout that I’ve been working on over the last couple of weeks for Dr. David Gelber’s non-fiction book Behind the Mask.

The colors in the illustration were a little tricky since normally hospital surgeries are well lit in spotless white environments — which dictated either boxing a whitish picture in a dark frame or making a white cover, either of which didn’t give the cover the richness that was needed.

Finally I tried making the doctor and surgical area light with a black background and a beam of light illuminating the area. Somehow (and against all logic) this works and opened the way for the rich black cover that we needed. Employing an attractive typeface (Saboni) with its nice contrasting italic set created the finishing touch with the design.

All proving that with book design, nothing is easy or necessary logical. But with results like this, it sure is a joy when the destination is reached. And working with clients who appreciate good design when they see it certainly helps as well.

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Duncan Long is a freelance magazine and book illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, ISFiC Press, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See his book illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html
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