Wet Apples, White Blood
Author: Naomi Guttman
Designer: David Drummond
Publisher: McGill-Queens University Press
Typeface: Baskerville
Imagery: Drop created in Photoshop, by David
Special Treatments: Matte lamination with a spot UV varnish on the descending drop of milk.

This is a cover I spoke with Drummond about a long time before this blog ever came to realization, and I figured it merited being shown in this venue. David talks about two aspects of design that stand out to me, the importance of a good client relationship, as well as the simplicity of stripping the cover of everything but what is needed to convey the idea.
—Jason Gabbert

About the Book (amazon.com):
Galactopoesis is the medical term for the continued secretion and production of milk. It derives from the Greek radicals for 'milk' (galacto) and 'making' (poesis), which is also 'poetry.' In Wet Apples, White Blood, nursing, as a constant creative act dependent on the baby’s demand, is a trope for the creative process and for questions of biology, psychology, and spirituality.

From David:
I only presented one cover sketch, and if memory serves, I arrived at the solution pretty quickly. I knew right up front that I wanted the cover to
show a contrast between the red of the blood/apple with the white of the milk.

Admittedly it was tough, to find a way of illustrating a “nursing mother” without being graphic or overly sentimental. Whenever I am working on a cover design, I always try to find the simplest expression of an idea and present it in an unusual way. I wanted all the focus to be on the white drop on the red background, which is why I pushed the type down to the bottom. This cover wouldn’t have worked without the spot UV varnish, and I must say, I have an amazing client who will add more to the budget for the sake of the design.

This is probably the best example of what can come out of a phenomenal client/designer relationship. I have been working with this particular client, Susanne McAdam, for about 14 years now. This is almost so simple a concept it could have been rejected out of hand for that very reason. It is also a poetry cover, so even suggesting a spot UV could have been seen as an unnecessary extravagance. I remember when I presented the cover sketch, which was almost identical to the the final printed piece, she thought about it for a second and said - lets do it. The work that I am most proud of is for a handful of clients who I have this relationship with. You really have to develop a strong level of confidence in your own work. If the cover bombs in the end you can't blame it on the editors or marketing department. It actually forces you to take responsibility for your work.

If I compare this cover to work from earlier in my career it represents the culmination of a real paring down process where extraneous elements are discarded for the purest expression of a concept.

07.07.09 // Ian said:

David Drummond is King. Nothing more.