Absurdistan

Absurdistan, by foreign correspondent Eric Campbell, is an account of one journalist’s rollicking ride through some of the world’s most dangerous places. Although hard to imagine at the time of publishing (around 10 years ago), many of the incidents outlined in the book seem disturbingly innocent compared to what’s currently happening in some of the various regions today. Be that as it may, designing this cover was a real eye-opener. Not least because Eric sent us a huge box packed full of paraphernalia from his trips—the sort of rich visual material that in the fairly isolated and self-sufficient world of designing book covers is very rare to come by.

This particular cover is one that Katherine often uses in student lectures as a case study about serendipity and unexpected outcomes. The finished cover was actually a (very) rough concept sketch, representing actual babushka dolls that we proposed would be custom-made. However, upon seeing it, the publisher immediately declared it to be the final cover, exactly as it was. And it turns out they were onto something—this cover was nominated for and won multiple design awards, and is still one of the most popular pieces of work we show people.

We’re often asked about the ‘font’ used on the cover—call us old-fashioned, but it’s Katherine’s handwriting.
The endpapers (right) comprised still life sketches of a novelty keyring Eric supplied.

This is just a small sample of the paraphernalia Eric sent us. So much inspiration, so little room!