Sea of Poppies UK Edition
Author Amitav Ghosh
Designer: Stephen Johnston
Publisher: John Murray, London
Typefaces: Main title created by designer with a calligraphy pen
Imagery: Taken from vintage art
Specials: Matte laminate cover, gloss varnish on the wave crests,
metallic red on poppies
Genre/Audience: Readers of historic and epic adventure fiction
“Susan Mitchell, the designer of the US Sea of Poppies, put me in touch with the designer of the UK version, Stephen Johnston. Stephen was gracious enough to tell us about his work on the UK version. This is a great opportunity to compare two great covers for the same book.” —Charles Brock
What is the book about?
The first in a trilogy of epic historical sagas that spans generations and continents. It opens in India (in the 1840's) when a motley cast of characters join a ship setting sail for a plantation. On board they become each other's surrogate family - a dynasty of sorts. After mutiny and shipwreck they are dispersed across the globe. Some are picked up by a opium ship heading for China in the midst of the Opium wars. This first book in the trilogy follows their various colorful fates.
Were there any constraints placed on you by the client?
Only format and size
The brief for 'Sea of Poppies' was pretty specific in that the cover had to covey a romantic, epic sea journey between India and China in the 1800's. I started by sourcing lots of imagery from the time and place of the story. Going through everything I found the image of the green waves and the really great print of the bright red poppies. These images were the building blocks of the cover, they really evoked the perfect feel and dictated the color palette, I built all of the other elements round them. The challenge was to keep the cover feeling fresh and modern but with a nod towards the traditional feel of that period. The bright flat colors of the poppies and the waves give the whole thing the modern graphic look I felt it needed.
I usually work in a cut and paste 'collage' way, pulling all of the source material onto a page and seeing what looks best. Sometimes you will drop an element into the artwork and it will fall into a position and create a composition that you would never have considered. I love to work like this at the start of a project, a little 'chance' in Illustration keeps things fresh.
The one part of the Illustration that took the most time was, naturally the smallest part. The ship. The image of the ship historically had to match the description of the 'Ibis' as It was a very specific vessel. I'm sure that any keen eyed nautical enthusiast reader would have been pretty annoyed if I'd missed a sail off.
The project went pretty smoothly, the guys at John Murray are great to work with and so a big thanks to them. Sometimes half the battle to produce a great cover is being given the trust and creative freedom to make something special.
11.17.08 // Jason R. Gabbert said:
This is beautiful! I love your last statement about half the battle being given trust and freedom.
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11.17.08 // Ian Shimkoviak said:
Wow! I love that second option lots. I wish that was the one. The final is beautiful too. I like it as much as the US edition. And what a great read it is...
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12.12.08 // Anonymous said:
Gorgeous, gorgeous work.
This blog is so inspiring!
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3.6.09 // Conrad said:
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Joannah
http://keyboardpiano.net
