The Art of the Cover

Cover art for fictional novels has long been something that authors, editors and artists have struggled
with. Does one go with the story and make art relating to it? Does one give the artist freedom and let
them design something catchy, even if it doesn’t match up with the story? Does one focus on the
font, the colours, the manic pixie dream girl decorating the cover? The answer is yes. Yes to everything.
At least, that’s the approach that Kind Publishing has been taking.

Every novel is treated uniquely, removing the editors from the process and giving freedom to the artist
and author to work together and create something that will truly stand out. Our featured artist and
author duo this month is Salmah Siddiqi and Yan Xi Toh, both of whom are relatively new to the
publishing industry, but are determined to leave their mark.

Yan Xi Toh (top), Salmah Siddiqi (bottom)

Siddiqi finished writing and editing her novel this past February, and since then she has been teamed up
with Toh, a comic book artist who has been fascinated with designing novel covers since she was young.
Finally given the opportunity to use her comic style for a novel, Toh rose up to the challenge and
designed a few options that Siddiqi could choose from.

Since Siddiqi’s story features a female protagonist in a post apocalyptic world, Siddiqi knew that she
wanted something that combined modern design techniques in a hand drawn style, allowing for a vintage
look that felt modern at the same time. Toh sampled some of the comics that she had previously written
for, and Siddiqi settled on a style similar to Toh’s design for Transmetropolitan.

Comics that Toh has previously designed and illustrated

The cover for Siddiqi’s novel The Flowers will be revealed next week, when an excerpt
will also be released. Here is a brief synopsis:

What's so lovely about gold? Is it because that's the color Staina keeps seeing everywhere? It's a different
time. The world is ruled by one power...The House. Are they good or bad? Staina, an adolescent girl in this
world, doesn't know for sure. But there is the startling fact that now the whole world is divided by the
equator. The rich side and Other Side where Staina visits, helping in secret. And then Carla, her trusted
nanny, disappears, the secrets she's buried so long resurfacing in the wake of her absence.
So what shall Staina do?

The Flowers will be released May 15th, available in all major bookstores.