Friday, July 1, 2011

The Case of the Deadly Designer

By Russel D McLean

Hey, check out these beauties.



See these covers, they were designed for the digital editions of my books. Well, onehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif’s the UK Digital edition of THE GOOD SON and the other’s a short story collection that’s going to be available to wherever you are once the final element falls into place.

In this case, its not the content that makes me proud, but the covers. Those covers are something else, believe me. And they were designed by one of the most talented guys in the business, JT Lindroos. It was Allan Guthrie who pointed me to JT when we were looking to find a cover for THE GOOD SON. I was impressed by what I’d seen him do on Guthrie’s covers and when I realised he was one of the geniuses behind Point Blank Press (who debuted, among others, Guthrie himself, Ray Banks and Duane Swierczynski) I thought, yeah, this guy’s worth approaching. A few emails later, he had the feel of THE GOOD SON down in a way I never expected.

Thing was, THE GOOD SON had a clear brief. When I went back to him with a series of linked short stories, my brief was less clear, maybe more muddled. But we worked back and forth on a while and in the end he did the unexpected and gave me a very cool, very moody cover for the mooted THE DEATH OF RONNIE SWEETS that did everything I wanted and maybe even a little more. He’s been a pleasure to work with and an absolute professional throughout. Go check his website right here to see other examples of his often fantastic cover work, for e-books, for book covers, for all kinds of things.

I mention JT today for two reasons. One is that, as anyone who knows me will attest, I’m a cover snob and a real stickler for what I consider to be good design work. JT nails his work, he really does, and its no wonder that so many people return to him for repeat business. He’s got an eye for the eye-catching and understands about the mood of the work he’s representing.

And less you think he is merely a cynical, crime-fuelled psychotic, he has a softer side too as evdienced by this cover for a good friend of mine, the romance writer, Holly Millar:


And the second reason is that JT turns 40 today. Yep, they say that’s when life begins, and for a man with JT’s talent and expertise, I’m sure it really is only just beginning. So this post really is just an extended way for me to say, happy birthday, JT, and thanks so much for the fantastic cover designs*.

*And a happy birthday from Holly, too.

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