Archive for Cover Art
A few more Angry Robot covers
Posted by: | CommentsHere are a few more covers from our 2012 schedule we’ve not shown you, yet. Click an image for a bigger version.
The evolution of an Angry Robot cover
Posted by: | CommentsWhat goes into the making of a cover for one of our books?
Well, the fine folk at Amazing 15 have put together a great blog post about their experiences when creating the awesome covers, below:
Head on over to Amazing 15 to read all about the birth and delivery of a cover.
This is the cover of Blackbirds. Look! LOOK!
Posted by: | CommentsMeet Miriam Black. She knows how you’re going to die. And when. It’s now. Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig. In stores and online in May 2012.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Joey HiFi. You are amazing.
[ Click for larger version. ]
Cover art debut – introducing Chris F. Holm’s Collector series
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[ Click above to see larger versions of these covers. ]
So, how do you like these babies, Joe?
You see, the new urban fantasy series from the inimitable Chris F. Holm is a touch, shall we say, noir. OK, not so much a touch, more double-dipped, with an extra crunchy topping of NOIRRRRR. Just take a look at those titles for starters. Looks like somebody has been soaking up the Hammett and Chandler, and then twisting them for their own diabolically devious purposes.
So what’s a publisher to do? Well, what we chose to do was dive in with both feet, BLAM! You want noir, with a classic feel? Oh yeah, these new covers from Amazing15, with art direction by yours truly, reference all that’s great in mid-70s crime paperback design. Well sometimes, you know, genius just… steals. And we Robots wouldn’t have it any other way.
The first of these books featuring soul collector Sam Thornton, Dead Harvest, will be in stores in March next year, with The Wrong Goodbye following in November.
New Cover Art – Giant Thief
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Click image to see giant version (see what we did there?)
Meet Easie Demasco. That’s him at the front. You’ll often see him running. He’s a rogue, you see – a thieving swine and a total charmer.
Behind him? Oh, we’re glad you asked – that’s Saltlick. He’s a giant. Simple, some might say, but perhaps not to his face. And why’s he with Easie? Because he’s been stolen – and he’s none too pleased about it.
You see, Easie has somehow managed to make off not only with the treasure belonging to the local warlord, but also the special stone that controls the giants. Which means he now has an entire army on his tail, intent on his capture. And probably death, if we’re being honest.
So, yeah – that’s Easie. You’ll meet him in February. Watch your purse.
New cover: Empire State
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[ Click for larger version. Click it, click it I say! ]
That there is the US cover for Adam Christopher‘s superlative Empire State, due from us in January 2012. The novel, as you may well recall, is a mix of superheroes and gumshoe detectives, in an alternative New York – which means this totally nails it. Incidentally, you can read Adam’s own thoughts on the creation of the cover over at Floor-to-Ceiling Books blog.
I’d say “ta-daaa!” and whip back the curtain with a flourish, but at least some of you have been all over this already, as our lovely chums over at Amazon.com managed to post it before we do. Gives an exciting little glimpse behind the emerald curtain, I guess. Unseen by the world at large, the race is always on to get a cover out to our suppliers in time for certain marketing deadlines, in as finished a state as possible, while not revealing it till the design is definitively complete and we (that is, the US sales team, UK sales team, various key bookstore people, and all us editorial and marketing types… not to mention that most valued opinion of all, namely the author) are all happy with it.
Read More→
New cover – Carpathia
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[ Click for a larger version. ]
Matt Forbeck‘s utterly outrageous – not to mention deeply sanguine – retelling of the Titanic disaster now has a cover, courtesy British designer Nick Castle. There it is, over there. Don’t get any on you!
The novel will be in stores next March, just in time for the centenary of that tragic night, way back in April 1912. As this book’s byline reaffirms, The lucky ones went down with the ship. Can’t wait!
A natter with Damned Busters cover artist Tom Gauld
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So look, everyone is saying that Matthew Hughes’ first novel for Angry Robot, The Damned Busters, is bloody great fun. And they are wise to say such a thing, for it be true.
But perhaps as much attention has been paid – by those who’ve seen the physical editions at least – to the fab cover from cartoonist and illustrator Tom Gauld. In the UK, trendy bookish types like us know him from his pithy cartoons on the letters page of The Guardian‘s Review section every Saturday. In the US and even further afield, though, I suspect he is known to just a few connoisseurs of small press cartoon work. So we tracked him down last Friday afternoon and fired a few questions at the fellow. This is what came back… (All images can be clicked for larger versions, in case you were wondering.)
Q: What do you call yourself – graphic artist, cartoonist, professional doodler, etc?
I say “cartoonist and illustrator”.
Q: How did you get into “all this”?
I drew a lot as a child, and when I realised that you could draw as a job I decided that was for me. I studied illustration at Edinburgh College of art and the Royal College and since graduating in 2001 I’ve been drawing full time.
Q: Do you do lots of sketches and throw all the bad ones around the room or do you chew your pencil for days and then nail it first off?
I sit and doodle in my sketchbook and try to play around quite a lot about with ideas before going on to make a picture. My technique is relatively time consuming and its not easy to change things once they’re drawn so I try to think it all through at the beginning.
Q: What’s your typical working day, if there is one?
I’m at my studio from about 8.30am till 4.30pm. I work best in the morning so that’s when I do most of my creative work and in the afternoons I do more research and admin and internet time-wasting.
Q: Is it really annoying, when people say it’s just scribbling and colouring in, and when will you get a proper job?
Well it’s not really a proper job, and much of it IS just scribbling and colouring in. I don’t deny that it’s a nice way to make a living. A more common misunderstanding is that people say “Oh you must have such FUN coming up with all these FUNNY ideas! You must be laughing all day long!” whereas I’m either wracking my brain for a good idea or meticulously editing the idea to make it as funny or interesting as possible.
Q: Do you think there should be more cartoon-style novel covers?
I don’t think THAT many novels really suit this style, but when it’s done right it can be really great: I’d like to see more great ones. Chris Ware’s cover for Candide was one of the first I saw and one of the best.
Q: What would you kill to illustrate?
Kurt Vonnegut’s books.
Q: Anything you really hate/struggle with drawing?
People. I’m continually seeking a way of drawing people which satisfies me and works for my ideas and stories. I’m slowly getting better but I’m not there yet. Robots are so much easier.
Q: You’ve got a really distinctive style – do you ever experiment with other techniques, formats or materials?
I mess around a bit with other things (brushes, colouring pens, collage, Lego) and I find it can be very helpful for generating and exploring ideas, but I tend to find that when it comes to finished work I’m happy with the simplicity of my usual pen on paper style.
Q: Just how obsessed with robots are you?
I wouldn’t like to say obsessed, but I find them almost endlessly interesting. There is tragedy in their place between sentient beings and disposable products. And as I said, they are much easier to draw than real people.
Q: Isn’t it great how many times you sneak SF/genre tropes into your Guardian Review cartoons? (Sorry, that’s more of a statement.)
Yeah. Sci-fi and genre fiction have much better visuals than literary fiction. I’ve attached a cartoon about this.
Q: Which means you must read widely too – who are your favourite authors, any genre?
Off the top of my head Kurt Vonnegut, PG Wodehouse, John le Carre, Magnus Mills, William Golding, Geoges Simenon.
Q: Who in your field deserves more acclaim?
Anders Nilson is an amazing artist, I’m very excited about his forthcoming 600-page epic Big Questions.
Q: What would you be if you didn’t do this?
If I couldn’t draw for a living, I’d like to write or animate. If I had to do something completely different I’d be a baker.
Q: And will we ever see the Bumper Complete Book of Collected Tom Gauld one day?
Yes, well sort of. I’m just finishing up a graphic novel and once that’s out of the way I’m going to figure out a way to collect much of my previous work in some way or other.
Massive thanks to Tom. See his work online at tomgauld.com. And look, he even made us a new Angry Robot logo. <3
Darkness Falling – First Cover Sighting
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This October sees the worldwide publication of the superb Darkness Falling – the first in the Forever Twilight trilogy by Peter Crowther. The cover art is by the quite brilliant Vincent Chong.
Click for the embiggened version.
More Awards News
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Following the win for Joey Hi-Fi’s Zoo City art in Saturday’s British Science Fiction Awards, and Aliette de Bodard’s win for Best Short Story (The Shipmaker, Interzone), last night there were further nominations announced – this time for the Hugos and the John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Aliette de Bodard (left) is nominated for a Best Novelette Hugo for The Jaguar House, In Shadow (Asimov’s), Lauren Beukes (right) picks up a nomination for Best New Writer in the John W Campbell Award and John Picacio picks up yet another nomination for the Best Professional Artist Hugo (John produced the exceptional cover to the US edition of Zoo City, below).
Congratulations to all the nominees. A full list can be found at the Renovation (WorldCon) website, here. The winners will be announced during a ceremony at Renovation in Reno (August).
And don’t forget, while we’re in Award Mode, Zoo City has also been shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London this Wednesday.
