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A Magpie’s Smile

I recently designed the jacket and interior for a chronological police thriller written by Eugene Meese that takes place in Calgary in the 1970s. I shot the cover photo using a magpie feather I found in my backyard, bending it to create the concave shape. The word “smile” in the title block was sculpted out of floss (a little facetious maybe) and is accompanied by the typeface Galliard, which was designed by Matthew Carter in 1978 and later licensed by ITC.

It’s always a challenge to make a mystery cover that evokes a sense of suspense without falling into that conventional clichéridden thriller category. (No blood, bullet holes or all caps necessary.)