We asked our design team to share some of their thoughts on the amazing new book, Green River Killer. Amy Arendts, Senior Graphic Designer, took some time out of her busy schedule to share her process on the cover of this fantastic new title from writer Jeff Jensen.
The challenge from editor Sierra Hahn for the cover design of Green River Killer: A True Detective Story was to keep the focus on the story, detective Tom Jensen’s hunt and investigation of Gary Ridgway, and away from something that looked overtly gruesome or sensationalized. Sierra also wanted to be sure the design was not disrespectful of the victims.
The cover would include artwork drawn by the book’s artist, Jonathan Case, and I was to come up with a design treatment that he would then use to create the finalized art. With design input from our art director, Lia Ribacchi, the cover concept went through several rounds of approval. Starting with about five different ideas, I worked with feedback from the editor, and writer Jeff Jensen, to get to a final design concept. This concept was then tweaked and altered after receiving the finished artwork from the artist.
Round One
Above is the first pass at cover ideas. I used a simple bold font for the title but altered it a little to give it some energy. I particularly liked using the tree imagery because it shows up a lot in the story, and relates to the detectives searching and hunting. I received feedback at this stage about color. Red was too sensational, so green was chosen to evoke a feeling for the environment where the story takes place. A simplified approach to the coloring on the second graphic above was requested.
Round Two
I reworked some of the preferred concepts from the first round, this time also making use of a rough cover sketch the artist had provided. The fourth graphic above was chosen as a final design concept to use with new art drawn specifically for the cover. Feedback included making sure “A Detective Story” pops out against the art, and moving the author and artist names to the bottom.
Round Three
I received finalized art and a sketch for cropping direction. The cover with the new art in place was then sent away for final feedback, which included quotes to add to the front and back covers. It was decided to crop the art on the top part of the cover in a different way, shown in the final design below. I also altered the white bar across the center to give it more presence.
Final Cover
