Awards Book Archive

Torched
  • Longlisted

Designed by
Debra Billson
Category
Best Designed Commercial Fiction Cover
Year
2021
Publisher
Pantera Press

About the Designer

Debra has been designing books since Roxette had ‘The Look’. She spent her early career creating products for children as an art director and studio manager, until landing her dream job at Penguin Books. For almost a decade, this saw her working across all genres with some of Australia’s highest profile authors, until starting her own business from her Melbourne home-studio in 2007. Whilst having designed everything from children’s board books to cookbooks, Debra’s true love is creating fiction covers…

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Design Rationale

This is a novel about a mother whose son has been accused of murder – and the lengths she will go to protect her child – all set against the vivid backdrop of the Black Saturday bushfires. The brief originally included suggestions of a close-up of a mother and son’s hands, references to the mother’s archaeology background with Roman mosaics or sculptures, or a ghostly woman in a white dress. These directions were unsuccessful, and at the end of the day, the simplest solution (and perhaps most obvious) was the right way to go for the cover.

Details
Dimensions
153 x 234 mm
No. pages
424
Special finishes
Soft touch
Credits
Typesetting
Kirby Jones
Printing
McPherson's Printing Group
Author
Kimberley Starr