IN PATAGONIA - Bruce Chatwin
When In Patagonia was
published in 1977 it heralded the arrival of a startling new talent in
British literature. Critics were spellbound by a story of
an adventure which blurred the boundaries between travel writing,
biography, history and memoir.
Chatwin’s first book continues to inspire generations of
travellers and writers. In 2017 we will celebrate the enduring status of
In Patagonia with a new 40th anniversary edition.
The cover design is made from various mediums including old brown paper, photographs and paint and takes inspiration from the incredible colours and terrain of Patagonia.
THE NOVELS - Bruce Chatwin
Why do men wander rather than stand still?
It’s not difficult to be inspired by Bruce Chatwin, and our cover for this collection of novels is designed with the spirit of travel in mind. Peaks to be scaled, paths to be crossed, the lure of a distant sea and somehow at the end we’re all connected. This collection of three novels – On the Black Hill, Utz and The Viceroy of Ouidah – willl be published by Vintage in October.
EDWARD REEVES ARCHIVE, Lewes
The CMYK team were recently lucky enough to have a guided tour of the Edward Reeves photography archives in Lewes. Opened by Edward in 1858, and now run by his great grandson Tom and his wife Tania, it is thought to be the oldest surviving photographic studio, run by the same family, in the world.
It was such a treat to be given a glimpse into the original studio and the archive that houses over 150,000 glass plates and negatives. Amazingly, almost all their records are also intact, providing a wonderful insight into the history of Lewes. Research Fellow of the London College of Communication Brigitte Lardinois is heading up the huge task of digitising the archive.
You can read more about the Reeves archive on reevesarchive.co.uk .
Modern and historical images from the studio will be on display in the Studio and as lightboxes throughout Lewes during the Artwave Festival 19th August – 3rd September 2017. The lightboxes, enhanced with an online audio visual tour will be displayed till 24 September.
HOW SAINTS DIE - Carmen Marcus
Set in a small Yorkshire fishing town in the 1980’s, How Saints Die is Carmen Marcus debut novel which portrays adult mental breakdown through the eyes of a child.
The cover, paw print on the spines case, and inside fraying rope were all illustrated by Owen Gent. Below Owen talks about the cover.
For the How Saints Die cover illustration I worked in watercolour and gouache, as well as editing subtle elements of the image in Photoshop. The brief was to include the Sea wolf, the sea itself and also Ellie, the young protagonist: the challenge with the cover was to create a balance between these elements which reflected their relationship within the novel. Ellie and the wolf look at each other across the boundary between land and sea, a visual divide which also represents the opposing worlds of reality and the turbulent imaginary world that Ellie conjures up as a way of dealing with her situation. The bright red figure of Ellie, set against a de-saturated and expansive Yorkshire coastal scene, portrays her bravery and tenancy, as well as the isolation she finds herself in.
It was a real pleasure to also work on some pen and ink illustrations which were used as pauses in the narrative, these were created using dip pen & Indian ink.


The Songlines – Bruce Chatwin
Vintage Classics in association with Moleskine today publish a limited special edition of Bruce Chatwin’s classic text to celebrate the
30th anniversary of its publication, and the 20th anniversary of a brand that has now become synonymous with culture, memory and travel.
The Songlines is Bruce Chatwin’s magical account of his journey across the length and breadth of Australia, following the invisible and ancient pathways that are said to criss-cross the land. Chatwin recorded his travels in his favourite notebook, which he would usually buy in bulk in a particular stationery shop in Paris. But when the manufacturer went out of business, he was told “Le vrai moleskine n’est plus”. A decade after its publication, on reading this anecdote in The Songlines, a small Milanese publisher was inspired to revive production of the legendary ‘moleskine’ notebook.
The design of The Songlines special edition has taken inspiration from its Vintage Classics paperback. It is evocative of an Australian landscape, with the warm earthy tones fading into the brilliant blue sky.
You can buy The Songlines special edition, packaged alongside a travel notebook, from Moleskine here.
This summer, Vintage is running a travel writing competition to celebrate Bruce Chatwin. For more details, visit www.chatwinproject.co.uk
A STATE OF FREEDOM - Neel Mukherjee
What happens when we attempt to exchange the life we are given for something better?
Can we transform the possibilities we are born into?
A State of Freedom prises open the central, defining events of our century – displacement and migration – but not as you imagine them - hence the triangular motif. Triangular wooden blocks were cut sanded and painted to create this collage. Small elements relevent to the narrative were added to the blocks in photoshop.
SO HAPPY IT HURTS - Anneliese Mackintosh
‘I want to be a good person. And I want to be happy. So happy it hurts. I need you to help me with that.’
Ottila
McGregor is thirty years old and has decided it’s time to sort her life
out. She’s going to quit drinking, stop cheating and finally find true
happiness. Easy, right?
Of course not.
This funny, poignant novel will appeal to fans of Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go Bernadette?, Lena Dunham and Miranda July.
Wax-resist watercolour course
Last week team CMYK took part in a wax-resist watercolour course run by artist and illustrator Olivia Bullock. Olivia has previously collaborated with Hole and Corner and Burberry Makers House to demonstrate the technique inspired by the work of artist Henry Moore; who often incorporated wax-resist into his fabric designs.
Wax-resist involves applying a white wax crayon or chinagraph pencil to paper, then adding a light wash of a water based paint over the top. The watercolour paint repels the wax, running off the area to settle and reveal the drawing underneath. Although a relatively simple technique, the process is immediate resulting in unusual and interesting effects.
Anna Karenina – Animation (Kingston illustration students)
A little taster from students on the illustration degree course at Kingston University.
If you’d like to see more - pop along to their degree show at the OXO Tower Bargehouse.
The two closest stations are Southwark and Waterloo within a 8 - 10 minute walk, 02 Barge House St, London SE1 9GY.
Open 22nd - 25th June 11:00am - 6:00pm.
https://www.morekingston.com
See more at:
https://www.catherineprowse.com and http://cargocollective.com/adawikdahl
TWO STORIES - Virginia Woolf and Mark Haddon
In early 1917, Virginia and Leonard Woolf bought themselves a printing press and installed it in their dining room in Richmond. That year they published their first publication Two Stories, one written by Virginia, The Mark on the Wall and the other written by Leonard, Two Jews. 134 copies were typeset and hand bound in bright Japanese paper by Virginia Woolf and printed by Leonard Woolf.
This year Hogarth Press imprint celebrates its Centenary and in honour of the very first book published back in 1917, we have taken the original text from The Mark on the Wall and are publishing it alongside the new story St Brides Bay written by Mark Haddon.
Two Stories includes many original features from the first edition, including red thread binding of the pages. A new illustration of Virginia Woolf by Mark fits beautifully alongside Dora Carrington’s original illustrations, three of which are also in in the new edition.
Printing has changed a lot in the last 100 years and the Bodleian Library invited us to Oxford for a print-a-thon day to help type set a poem first published in 1919, using the same typeface and a similar press to the one the Woolf’s would have originally used.
The cover illustration of Two Stories is by Ed Kluz who has produced a cover in response to the decorative paper design of the early Hogarth Press titles. He has included motifs in the pattern from both stories within the book.
Shark Drunk – Morten Strøksnes
In the great depths surrounding the remote Lofoten islands in Norway
lives the Greenland shark. Twenty-six feet in length and weighing more
than a tonne, it can live for 200 years. Its fluorescent green,
parasite-covered eyes are said to hypnotise its prey, and its meat is so
riddled with poison that, when consumed, it sends people into a
hallucinatory trance.
Armed with little more than their wits and
a tiny rubber boat, Morten Strøksnes and his friend Hugo set out in
pursuit of this enigmatic creature. It is a love song to the sea, in all its mystery, hardship,
wonder and life-giving majesty.
Delightfully jacketed as a small format hardback, our cover is an adaptation of the beautiful American jacket by designer Oliver Munday.
BLUETS FILM
Filmed and art directed by the Vintage design team
QUEER CITY - Peter Ackroyd
Peter Ackroyd takes us from the ‘wolf dens’ of Roman Londinium, through centuries of history as seen through London’s gay population, to the present day freedoms and tolerences in our queer city.
The striking design was created to capture this breadth of history by evoking the printed word at the heart of London’s queer heritage. The bold graphic letterpress type hints at the gossip and accusations, the broken laws and the newspaper headlines, the chapbooks and flyers, the public notices and the private letters, the protests and declarations - which have all been part of that history. The Thames itself is simplified to a shock of pink, unmistakenly illustrating the city, and suggesting the continuing journey of its gay culture.
Queer City is published by Chatto & Windus.
THE IDIOT - Elif Batuman
Elif Batuman’s witty new novel The Idiot has been given a bold colourful look. Cover illustration by Aino Maija-Metsola
VINTAGE MINIS
Vintage Minis brings you a series of short
books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us
human – from birth to death and everything in between.
The Vintage design team have worked together by taking a few titles each to create this set. With design being at the heart of Vintage, this beautiful minimalist
series demanded a concise, immediate visual response. A small, vibrant
series packing a powerful message.
