Authors of the Storm
Author: Gary Allan Fine
Designer: Natalie Smith
Photography: The New York Public Library
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Typefaces: Handlettering and Whitman
This weeks cover, Authors of the Storm by Gary Alan Fine, was designed by Natalie Smith from the talented crew at University of Chicago Press. This jacket was selected for AIGA’s 2008 50 Books/50 Covers and was also in PRINT’s Regional Design Annual for 2008. Natalie gave us some great images showing her process. It’s a beautiful jacket. Thanks Natalie.
—Charles Brock
Authors of the Storm offers an inside look at how meteorologists and forecasters predict the weather. While working on the interior of the book, I liked to stop and read the extracts, which are often field notes or dialogue between weathermen. Lyrics to a song titled, I Am the Weatherman of Constant Sorrow begin chapter 2. I felt I had enough of a sense of the book to design the jacket after reading/singing the last verse.
I got the idea to draw the black cloud shape after coming across a photograph from the Library of Congress. It depicted a big open field, blue sky, and white clouds. Basically, nothing that said "storm". Crayon etching immediately came to mind since it was my passion throughout kindergarten. So, I drew a few clouds with black crayons and scratched the letters of the title and subtitle out with a needle tool. I cleaned up some of the letters in Photoshop for readability, then sized and placed everything. This was a fun process in the beginning. After the manuscript editor looked at the cover, I was told that the subtitle had changed entirely. Playing with crayons had turned into too
much work.
I ended up choosing an older sepia-toned photograph from the New York Public Library for the background. It looked less like stock art and more like it could have been taken just before or after a significant weather event in history. (It also reminds me of the Wizard of Oz before the twister hits.)
I wanted to focus on a different element of weather on the spine. The wave pattern came straight from a Dover clip-art book. The book cloth underneath the dust jacket is a really bright blue and I love the effect this creates for me. I wanted to hint at the idea of a sunny day after the storm, or, at least, dramatize the storm on the cover more.
12.1.08 // Courtney Baker said:
That is really terrible news about the subtitle.. but man was it worth the effort--love this! Natalie is SO talented!
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12.1.08 // Ian Shimkoviak said:
I've always loved this cover since I saw it.
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12.1.08 // H3NR7 said:
Such a beautiful cover by Natalie.
When I was in kindergarten, my passion was napping.
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12.3.08 // Robert said:
This work shows, how such actually mismatching pieces can be combined. Very beautifully.
