Winterborne book cover design

Detail of the cover of Winterborne, featuring the outline of a crow flying on a white background masking a photograph of a winter forest

The cover of Winterborne, featuring a crow flying on a white background carrying a red ribbon

Winterborne book on floor featuring a crow flying on a white background carrying a red ribbon

Winterborne book cover design

1 2 3

Book cover design commission. The initial brief was very open and consisted of three words - "winter", "forest" and "crow". This layout sprang to mind almost straight away. I dug out some photos I'd taken in Galloway Forest to use as background and then drew the bézier curves for the vector mask, referencing some stock shots of crows and ravens.

I tried various treatments for the eye, some realistic and some much more stylised, but finally plumped for the polo-style one. I think it gives the correct sense of something slightly magical and not-of-this-world. The red ribbon was a final addition added just before I sent the artwork for review, to mirror the colour of the typography.