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Dead kitten imagery a tough sell for Helen Marshall’s Gifts for the One Who Comes After

Designer Erik Mohr discovers that dead kitten imagery is a tough sell for the cover of Helen Marshall’s story collection Gifts for the One Who Comes After (ChiZine Publications)

frontmatter-051. I find story collections the hardest type of book to design. They can also be the most fun. Helen Marshall’s stories are full of wonderful imagery and there was so much to pull from. Initially, I wanted to treat the cover as a turn-of-the-20th-century storybook – complete­ with worn edges, water stains, embossed­ lettering, and a vintage illustration of two women doing needlepoint.