The making of the cover design for The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins

Overview• Process

Understanding the idea behind the book and coming up with a sketch: evil and treachery behind a friendly face.

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The art director says that the idea is rough and the cover for the previous edition was much more to the point.

Looking at the previous edition.

Drawing a new sketch in the same style.

perkins2 process 02

The art director asks to place the stars in the center. Doing so and showing the result to the client.

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The client likes it.

Sending the sketch illustration to the typesetter along with the text and a logo of the primary partner.

perkins2 process 03 02

Too much text. Sending it to the editor for reduction.

The typesetter feels obstructed by the stars on the front side, on the back, everywhere.

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Drawing a new illustration decreasing the area taken up by the stars.

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The art director doesn’t like the spine, it’s not easily recognizable anymore. Restoring the original stars.

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The client asks to move the bestseller text above the title and make the partner’s logo larger. Moving, making.

The chief typesetter gives advice on how to align the title and the text to make them look better against the bloody stripes. The editor sends a shortened text which now reads much better and perfectly fits the layout.

Adding author’s name and the book title in two lines on a bloody stripe on the spine. The only things that were never moved were the logos and the barcode.

Getting the art director’s approval and sending for printing.

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