Nathan Ryder on Designing The Storm
Nathan Ryder knew what he wanted to do from the age of about ten – he wanted to be a graphic designer. He left school at sixteen; went to art college; went to university and then got a job as a Junior Designer. Twenty-plus years later he became a Creative Director before deciding to go freelance in 2017. He now lives and works in Germany. Here he talks us through his process for designing The Storm.
First of all, there’s no overly sophisticated way that I go about designing books or producing any design work for that matter. My processes are not ground-breaking – they’re probably similar to a lot of designers. I’m not a philosopher, I’m not an intellectual and I’m not a bullshitter (I can be a bit sweary). I consider myself as a competent designer – I get on with what needs to be done and if clients like it, then I’ve done my job right – if other designers like it, well, that’s a bonus.
I get a brief, often too short or too vague, I do my research in what is the normal way nowadays – on the Internet – and look at what other designers are doing. Sometimes I look at stock imagery to kickstart an idea and very often browse my own collection of design books for inspiration.
Then, if time allows, I spend a couple of days mulling things over in my head – you know, in the shower or when I’m watching a film; out walking; in the middle of the night when I wake up. I kind of fill my head with what I think are possible directions or ideas that I want to explore, and then I scribble (literally) them as thumbnails in a sketchbook and make a few written notes. Sometimes I might work up the scribbles into something that’s still pretty basic but means something to me: ideas that need exploring.
When I take on a new cover design, I like to read at least a few chapters of the manuscript, if at all possible, to get a feel for the narrative, as this will often spark ideas or symbolism that I want to incorporate into the initial design visuals. On this occasion that’s not what happened. Instead, I was given a short synopsis of The Storm – a number of short stories all taking place during an almost biblical storm. I decided not to get too bogged down trying to illustrate the different stories in a forced way with unnecessary elements and besides, the author already had a reasonable idea of what he wanted.
Arantza Pardo had been commissioned to produce a painting specifically for the cover. I find her ‘fictional sky’ ominous and thought provoking, therefore I wanted the cover to feature just her painting – it didn’t need any other interference. On the paperback her artwork is framed by an obvious white border that contains this ferocious natural force … until you open the book and begin to read. Simple typography was all that was needed. That said, we went through three rounds of design options with a total of thirteen paperback variations on the same theme to get the balance right.
In this instance the paperback was designed first. The hardback was further stripped down with just a few revisions. I think Akeem’s writing has been described as ‘stripped down’ too; it’s deceptively sparse and therefore I believe these covers complement his style of writing.
Yes, I used Helvetica Now for the jacket, largely because I didn’t want the typeface to detract from the painting in any way. Sceptics will say it’s safe and boring; I say it’s beautiful and what was needed for the job. I didn’t want to use a serif and I certainly didn’t want any hand lettering. I wanted clean, simple typography to act in stark juxtaposition with the title; a storm is often something wild, destructive and uncontrollable; the jacket typography is calm, structured and controlled, within the eye of The Storm …
Arantza Pardo comments on her painting, The Storm:
“The painting process involved working with oil on a very thick canvas over six weeks. I felt that the main feature that would make the cover stand out would be the texture of the linen photographed. The layers and cadences of the blues and whites simulate a 3D effect because of the combination of the waiting times between layers and the inner working of the hemp thread of the fabric. As a result, it gives an extra dimension to the tones, creating various levels of depth on a fictional sky.”
Editor, artworker and lifelong bibliophile.