Awards Book Archive

In the Skin of a Monster
  • Shortlisted

Designed by
Josh Durham
Category
Best Designed Young Adult Cover
Year
2016
Publisher
Allen & Unwin

About the Designer

Josh worked in magazine design before setting up his company Design by Committee under the mentorship of Australian book design luminary W.H. Chong. He draws upon a broad skill base to offer both illustrative and concept driven solutions to literary fiction, commercial fiction, YA, children’s, non fiction and illustrated book commissions for all of Australia’s leading publishers.

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Design Rationale

This YA book is a fantastical dystopian coming-of-age story. The protagonist lives in the shadow of a murderous sibling. I wanted to capture a sense of hidden identity and desperation with an image that had a in-your-face physicality and a subtle fantasy element, but also maximum shelf presence. I created the artwork in Photoshop out of bits and pieces of budget stock photography and knitted in a landscape and sense of place. I hand drew the typography with a dramatic scrawl to match the drama of the cover artwork. All photo illustration work and typography is by Design by Committee.

Details
Dimensions
128 x 198 mm
No. pages
304
Credits
Printing
McPherson's Printing Group
Author
Kathryn Barker