Book Covers

| 20+ YEARS Experience |

Book Covers + Graphic Design

Illustration and graphic design complement each other very well.

My experience doing both allows me to work on the process of creating a book cover as a whole. Depending on the budget, I can create an original illustration, photo bashing, and work on branding, iconography, typography and layouts.

Below are some examples of projects I have been involved with, some of them went as far as creating a web page for the book series and different digital assets for marketing purposes.

Mixed technique, traditional and digital

Hobgoblin's Herald

The Hobgoblin’s Herald is the first book of a trilogy by Andrew R Aston soon to be re-released, and a project I’m heavily invested with. I have worked not only on the cover but on creating the branding and produced all types of illustrations from portraits to maps.

If you like to see more, please check out the case study for Savage Oaths.

San Cicaro Book Series

A very ambitious project from Thunderbird Studios. This book series takes place in the fictional city of San Cicaro. The editors had some bold ideas and their marketing was built around making San Cicaro feel like a real place.

For the covers, we found inspiration in the travelling posters of old, in the art deco landscapes depicting fabulous destinations mainly travelled by railway. The bold colours and stylish shapes would contrast nicely with the dark tales of San Cicaro. Hidden in plain sight, the bizarre and the miraculous are to be found by visitors fearless enough to brave the journey. A bit of fun amidst the horror.

On the golden coast of California lies San Cicaro, a mecca for the misbegotten, a beacon for the strange. Rumors of the bizarre and the miraculous abound, magic baked into the very streets by the scorching sun. There’s wonder and horror aplenty to be found by visitors fearless enough to brave a journey.

I designed the book covers, the website, and a postcard. Also did a great deal of image editing for their Instagram campaign, as shown in the samples below.

Outliers

I teamed up with five authors in a project called the Outliers Saga, it was intended to be a multi-volume series of books. Each volume was going to be made up of a number of linked novellas and short stories, all set within the same universe.

The first issue worked almost like an RPG source-book. It aimed to immerse the reader in the universe.

I established the whole style, designed the book layout, and created all the internal illustrations and icons as well as the cover art and the title logo.

Far Worlds

This was a very interesting job. I was commissioned by a group of authors to create a book cover for their anthology. Also, I was tasked with the creation of a number of interior illustrations, which included a cover for every story within the publication.

Far Worlds featured speculative fiction stories spanning the spectrum from hard science fiction to epic fantasy to post-apocalyptic horror.

I opted for a very graphic style that would keep the tone throughout the book. Here are some examples.

Marching Time

I had a lot of fun working on Marching Time. A group of authors from the Bolthole commissioned me to create a book cover for their 2nd anthology. This was a collection of war stories with a time travel aspect. A page-turner that included a guest story from veteran writer C L Werner.

The Black Wind's Whispers

The Black Wind’s Whispers was the first anthology from the Bolthole, they entrusted me with the creation of a book cover. This was a collection of nine fantastic and dark tales of horror. A really good book that included a guest story from veteran writer C L Werner.

Would you like to commission a book cover?

It is an honour to be chosen to bring someone's precious vision to life. Get in touch and let's talk about your project, I'll do my best to help.

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by Manuel Mesones

My Sketchbook

| Traditional Art |

My Sketchbook

I do love my sketchbooks. Currently, I'm using Moleskin, Leuchtturm1917 and a Stillman & Birn.

I found the Moleskin more comfortable as it stays flat with spread pages, but the pages can bleed with ink. I’m so happy with the Stillman & Birn Zeta Series, with thick pages, you can use gouache and ink with confidence. However, working on spread pages can be tricky. The Leuchtturm1917 is somewhere in between.

Working with markers is a whole different story. I think it varies from brand to brand, so I find that Letraset tends to bleed less than Copics.

Here is a selection of some of my sketches.

Mostly Graphite, Ballpoint pen, Ink and Gouache