Jet Purdie ∵ Book Cover Design ∵ Art Direction ∵ Illustration

A Clockwork Orange
by
Anthony Burges

Designed by Jet Purdie

WARNING
This design may trigger seizures or migraines for people who are photosensitive. Viewer discretion is advised.

When this still image is viewed at desktop size the middle pattern spins clockwise. You can stop the spinning by squinting.

Self-initiated project, crashed-out in a morning, to get the idea out of my head. Designing it gave me a migraine.

Design by Jet Purdie

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I had recently read.

Gazelle was traced from an old matchbox advert for Eder Bier (German beer)… but I added a veve style star for the eye.

Film stills from the amazing Devine Horsemen, Living Gods of Haiti documentary.

by Margaret Meyer

Design by Jet Purdie
Illustration by James Nunn and Jet Purdie
Art direction by Charlotte Abrams-Simpson

I artworked The Witching Tide hardback for awesome art director Charlotte Abrams-Simpson in the summer of 2023. It was a fair bit of work transforming James Nunn’s gorgeous linocut print into a blue pantone and intricate foil guide… but the result was gorgeous.

Several months later, I was really happy when Charlotte asked if I would create the paperback version, keeping elements of James’s hard back art but also adding some new stuff.

We decided to keep James gorgeous wheat and clouds and I illustrated a British bird of prey (all of them squished together) and reworked a hare from Shutterstock. The hardest part was probably re-drawing all the tall grass in James’s style.

I really like the end result and I hope James does too : )

Design by Jet Purdie

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I already owned.

by Simone de Beauvoir

Design by Jet Purdie

I was honoured to design a Simone de Beauvoir title, especially for amazing Creative Director Suzanne Dean.

Brilliant Picture Editor Lily Richards found several gorgeous photos… but Lily and Senior Editor, Charlotte Knight quickly fell in love with a Saul Leiter’s photo called Carol Brown, Harper’s Bazaar, 1958. The photo was commissioned by Esquire (I’m guessing they own both mags) but sadly went unpublished. The Saul Leiter Foundation agreed to let Lily licence the photo as I luckily hadn’t altered the image, cropped it or overlayed any type.

Typically I’d use a bright background colour… but I felt Simone de Beauvoir called for something a bit classier and I didn't want to over-power the Leiter photo, so I opted for a blue/grey background and a warm, off-white border and title colour.

I love that this title is a B format hardback, as I prefer smaller, lighter books. I can’t wait to see it in the shops! : )

Mrs Gulliver
by
Valerie Martin

Design by Jet Purdie
Art Direction by Steve Panton

I really enjoyed designing Mrs Gulliver for Valerie Martin. I especially enjoyed searching for the perfect 1950s photo and working with Steve, who gave lovely and clear feedback and made great suggestions.

Thank you for the lovely project Steve and Profile

Photography by Margaret Mitchell
Design by Jet Purdie
Author name hand lettering by Rachael Lancaster
Art Direction by Steve Marking
Creative Direction by Nick Shah

Creating this cover for author Tom Newlands (cool guy!) was a lovely experience. There were some cool coincidences, like Tom and the photographer both being from Stirling and Tom having even learnt to drive on the very street featured in the photo. As well as being a brilliant photographer, Margaret was an absolute pleasure to work with

The Devils
by Joe Abercrombie

I designed this UK adapt of the US edition (2nd image with red background) by awesome designer Will Staehle / Unusualco.

I kept most of Will's type, the crown and the skull, then added gold foiled smoke, drew some gold, religious, flame rays, added black and blue background flames, re-worked the candle flames, added stars and switched-up the colours.

We felt the UK market wanted more foil : )

by Carys Green

Design by Jet Purdie

I really enjoyed creating Always In My Mind for Harvill Secker / Penguin Random House.

A minimal, domestic setting was called for... so I came-up with the idea of double vanity sinks and mirrors, which allowed me to add a hint of romance with the condensation heart and an eerie reflection of the husband.

Deputy Publishing Director Katie Ellis-Brown suggested the fun idea of adding multiple colours through the artwork.

by Cate Quinn

Design by Jet Purdie

by Dan de Visé

Design and Illustration by Jet Purdie
Art Direction by Steve Marking

Steve knew I was a Blues Brothers fan and all things blues and soul, so I am SUPER grateful for this project. THANK YOU Steve! : )

Big shout out to Lee Brackstone and the editors for being cool with Steve and I adding random text (White Rabbit Presents) to make the cover look more like a 60’s showprint blues poster.

And a A big thank you to Orion's Picture Researcher, Natalie Dawkins for juggling the legal side of things.

by Anne Sebba

Design by Jet Purdie

Art by Mieczysław Kościelniak

Mieczysław Kościelniak was a Polish painter who lived between 1912 and 1993. Mieczysław was a prisoner at Auschwitz. During his time at Auschwitz, Mieczysław secretly drew approximately 300 drawings, documenting the everyday life of prisoners; these drawings are in the collections of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim.

Thank you Nat Dawkins for working hard to get the high res art from  Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and for getting Polish artist Mieczysław Kościelniak’s family and estate to give permission to use his haunting sketch. Thank you Anne Sebba for your patience and trust with your book cover. 

by Renee Salt and Kate Thompson

Design / photo illustration by Jet Purdie

This was a very smooth project. Even the rejected routes were strong. The stock photography gods had my back on this project. The author was lovely to design for. I have a lot of time and respect for anyone who has experienced the evil horrors of Auschwitz, or anything like it.

by Valerie Martin
Paperback edition
Design by Jet Purdie
Art direction by Steve Coventry-Panton

I was very happy to hear from Art Director Steve Coventry-Panton, asking if I could take one of my old Mrs Gulliver roughs to high res for the paperback edition.

On this edition we have the palm tree shadow on the front cover and . . . the 1956 BMW 507 🤪

Elvis bought a BMW 507 when he did his military service in Germany. His fans left so many red lipstick marks on the white paintwork he had it sprayed red hoping they would stop 💋💋💋

The image of the woman adjusting her stockings is Hollywood actress Fay Spain, taken from the 60’s movie The Private Lives of Adam and Eve. Coincidentally, Elvis's girlfriend - Tuesday Weld - was also in the film. I'm not an Elvis nut by the way.

by Clare Mulley

Agent Zo

Design by Jet Purdie

For the paperback I inverted the colours and moved the mountaineering photo to the back cover to make space for the great quotes. The image of Elzbieta actually works better in these colours.

This is the incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the WW2 female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo. Agent Zo was the only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, and then in Britain she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the 'Silent Unseen'. She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then the only female member of these SOE affiliated forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo who arrested her entire family, she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland.

by Philipp Von Boeselager

Design and photomontage by Jet Purdie

As well as meeting Hitler in person (scary!), Philipp also supplied the explosives for Operation Valkyrie - the attempt to kill Hitler. The bomb detonated, injuring Nazi scumbags and wrecking part of the Wolf's Lair in Poland ... but sadly Hitler didn't die.

Designing the Operation Valkyrie cover took me back to my film poster design days, where I comped-together grainy and blurry photos : )

by Clare Chambers

Design by Jet Purdie
Based on the original design by Edward Bettison - the guy that designed a lovely edition of The Colour Purple ; )

by Emily Howes

Design by Jet Purdie

Type from Hardback edition by the lovely and talented Jessica Hart at Orion Books

I was asked to inject additional colour into the paperback edition and use a painting that allowed both of Gainsborough's daughters to fit on the front. I added a wash of Cyan to the background ... hopefully Gainsborough isn't turning in his grave : )

Thanks for the work Jess!

Jet

by Tim Spector

Design by Jet Purdie

I designed Identically Different for Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Initially we explored DNA helices (supposedly that's the plural of helix) in a Matisse, Blue Nude paper cut-out style and another route with close-ups overlapping rainbow coloured fingerprints... but in the end we settled on two peas in a pod : )

Thanks for the work Steve!

by Antony Beevor

Design by Jet Purdie
Art Direction by Steve Marking

Based on the Russia: Revolution and Civil War, 1917—1921 paperback series style

by Zeke Faux

Design by Jet Purdie
Based on the US cover by Christopher Brand
Coin illustration by Tim O’Brien
Art Direction by Steve Marking
Creative Direction by Nick Shah

I used the coin from the US cover, added a glitch effect in Procreate and gave it a How Westminster Works off white background and some similar type.

Design by Jet Purdie
Art Direction by Steve Marking
Creative Direction by Nick Shah

This is the incredible story of Elzbieta Zawacka, the WW2 female resistance fighter known as Agent Zo. Agent Zo was the only woman to reach London from Warsaw during the Second World War as an emissary of the Polish Home Army command, and then in Britain she became the only woman to join the Polish elite Special Forces, known as the 'Silent Unseen'. She was secretly trained in the British countryside, and then the only female member of these SOE affiliated forces to be parachuted back behind enemy lines to Nazi-occupied Poland. There, whilst being hunted by the Gestapo who arrested her entire family, she took a leading role in the Warsaw Uprising and the liberation of Poland.

by Lex Noteboom

Design by Jet Purdie

Based on the Dutch edition cover by Thijs Hoogeland

I used the same stock image, but re-created the glitch and TV lines, changed the background to an orange/red and chose a more appropriate title font for the UK market.

Design by Jet Purdie

Self-initiated project

There are several lovely covers based on matchbox art, but this story was about firemen burning books, so I thought the art style was quite relevant.

If you like vintage matchbox art check out a book called Matchbox Labels by Jane Smith and Natasha Lomas.

HIGH-RES LAYERED FILES AVAILABLE FOR LICENSING

Design by Jet Purdie

Art Direction by Steve Marking

Creative Direction by Nick Shah

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Orion Books / Hachette UK

by Glenn McDonald

Design by Jet Purdie

Design and illustration by Jet Purdie

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I owned.

Design by Jet Purdie

Art Direction by Steve Marking

Creative Direction by Nick Shah

Published by at Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Orion Books / Hachette UK

by Dmitry Grozoubinski

Design by Jet Purdie

Design by Jet Purdie

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I had recently read.

Design by Jet Purdie

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I already owned.

Design by Jet Purdie

Legs based on old Estonian promotional matchbox art

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I had recently read.

Design by Jet Purdie
Illustration by Saul Steinberg

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I had recently read.

Sigmund Freud Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis Vol. 2

Self-initiated book cover design project

Design by Jet Purdie

Concept based on an illustration from Catherine's Lepage's gorgeous 'Thin Slices of Anxiety' book (see 2md image).

Vintage illustration liberated from a hair tonic advert in a very old edition of Punch magazine.

Art Direction: Jet Purdie
Design: Gray318 & Blacksheep

WINNER of the ABCD (Academy of British Cover Design) awards 2017.

Super Proof wooden art crates x75
Art Direction/Design: Jet Purdie
Joinery: Roland Platts-Mills
Foam: Cutfoam

Strait canvas slash on proof was sadly abandoned due to potential litigation from the Lucio Fontana estate.

Design by Jet Purdie

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I owned or had read.

Design / photomontage by Jet Purdie

Photos from Shutterstock

This is a non-official, self initiated, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I already owned.

I used the Hare and the Tortoise fable to convey fast and slow… and then threw in a bit weirdness by having the hare on the tortoise… no idea why… but I think it looks cool, grabs the eye and - hopefully - forces the viewer to try decode it… which may take some time as there is no answer.

This is a non-official, self initiated, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I already owned.

Initially I considered using the correct B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft nose art that featured in the 1970s film… but it is a naked woman clutching a lightning rod and riding a phallic bomb. While the female character looked strong with her Zeus-like lightning bolt … it all rather sexist, pin-up.

Instead, I borrowed the WWII US 553rd bomb squadron’s jacket patch art, which featured a scared looking cat clinging to a dropped bomb … which kinda reminded me of the war-shy story’s protagonist.

I believe the book was first published in 1961 by Simon & Schuster, so I used their old 60s logo… but S&S would not have placed it on the front cover. I also used an old quote from a newspaper that ceased trading in 1966.

Art Direction: Jet Purdie
Design: Blacksheep

Art Direction / Design: Jet Purdie
Lettering: Charles Stewart
Illustration: Dynamo

Art Direction: Jet Purdie
Design: Head Design

Design: Jet Purdie

Design by Jet Purdie

This is a non-official, personal challenge project, that involved me re-jacketing books I had recently read.