Darin Bradley

My latest

darinbradley

2/6/08 08:30 pm

One of the great perks of doing cover designs is that you get to read free books—before anyone else. Recently, I got to read David D. Levine's forthcoming collection Space Magic (Wheatland) so I could, you know, design a cover for it.

It's a terrific collection, particularly "I Hold My Father's Paws."

So here's my latest* (my first paying cover design gig!):




Yes, that is a whale.




*downres'd for your convenience

• Engage

• jennreese

  2/7/08 01:43 am (UTC)

  

  Absolutely stunning. Wowza.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:06 am (UTC)

    

    Why thanks!

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• benpeek

  2/7/08 01:48 am (UTC)

  

  that's a neat cover, man. grats.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:07 am (UTC)

    

    Glad to hear it! Thanks!
    
    It's a good collection, so I'm glad I didn't screw it up.

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• clarkesworld

  2/7/08 01:49 am (UTC)

  

  Nice work!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:07 am (UTC)

    

    Thanks!

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• samhenderson

  2/7/08 01:51 am (UTC)

  

  Oh, that's gorgeous!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:07 am (UTC)

    

    You think?
    
    Cool.

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• sauvagerie

  2/7/08 01:53 am (UTC)

  

  That looks cooooooool.
  I always forget you were an art-dude before you became a word-dude.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:09 am (UTC)

    

    Yeah. Funny, the closest tangible analog to digital imaging, for me, is sculpting, which only ever sorta one of my things.
    
    Guess it turned out okay :)

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• livia_llewellyn

  2/7/08 01:55 am (UTC)

  

  OMG. Stupendous.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:09 am (UTC)

    

    Thanks!

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• Nice Work.

  (Anonymous)

  2/7/08 02:08 am (UTC)

  Bravo, darinbradley.
  
  But, can a guy get a text wrap around here??? :-)
  
  Seriously though, quite nice.
  
  ~CB

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  • Re: Nice Work.

    darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:09 am (UTC)

    

    I know, right!

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• serasempre

  2/7/08 02:16 am (UTC)

  

  Very nice work. Seriously striking, good balance, nice typography. You do such good work.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:19 am (UTC)

    

    Thank you! It's all about the rule of thirds!
    
    This one's a bit small, so a lot of the detail is muddy, but it gets the demonstration across. I can't wait to see it in print.

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• joshrountree

  2/7/08 02:31 am (UTC)

  

  That looks great!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:51 am (UTC)

    

    Thanks very much!

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• experimeditor

  2/7/08 02:44 am (UTC)

  

  Love it. An attention grabber!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:52 am (UTC)

    

    Thanks, Forrest! It was a doozy. I think there was something like fifty layers to that image.

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• scieppan

  2/7/08 02:51 am (UTC)

  

  

  Oooh lovely. I particularly like the front, and the font. What font did you use on the cover?

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 02:55 am (UTC)

    

    Thanks! The title font began as a Copperplate rip-off . . . until I messed with it.
    
    

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• squirrel_monkey

  2/7/08 02:58 am (UTC)

  

  Greta stuff, Darin! Also: get your butt on gmail.
  

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 04:13 pm (UTC)

    

    Thanks!
    
    (I will. A bit later. Have to run some errands here in a few.)

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• davidlevine

  2/7/08 03:00 am (UTC)

  

  I am so totally thrilled about this cover. Especially the whale. (Too bad it's behind the Bruce Holland Rogers quote, but I assume on the real cover it will be more easily visible.) Thanks for an awesome cover!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 04:14 pm (UTC)

    

    Thanks, David! I'm glad you like it!
    
    Thanks for a great read!

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• syrenatricksy

  2/7/08 04:18 am (UTC)

  

  Wow, that's beautiful! I want to see that whale in the bigger format, but this is really astounding stuff, Mr. B!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 04:14 pm (UTC)

    

    Thanks!
    
    Yeah, the poor whale is being eaten by blurb copy, but they're good blurbs, so I don't mind!

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• alankria

  2/7/08 08:40 am (UTC)

  

  That's great, particularly the front.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 04:15 pm (UTC)

    

    Thanks!

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• jlundberg

  2/7/08 11:33 am (UTC)

  

  Very shiny, d00d. That would definitely stop me in the bookstore and make me want to pick it up.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 04:15 pm (UTC)

    

    Excellent! Then my work here is finished.

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• buymeaclue

  2/7/08 12:45 pm (UTC)

  

  Pretty slick!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 04:16 pm (UTC)

    

    Thanks!

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• justbeast

  2/7/08 04:01 pm (UTC)

  

  Whoa, I didn't know you did cover design. That looks gorgeous, man!
  
  How's the book itself? Looks pretty interesting, but it's always hard to tell..

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 04:16 pm (UTC)

    

    Yep. Cover design is one of things I'm trying to edge into—more regularly, that is.
    
    The book is awesome. Aside from reading for illustration ideas, I just really enjoyed the stories.

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    • justbeast

      2/7/08 04:37 pm (UTC)

      

      Excellent. (Will you link to it on amazon or wherever, once it comes out?)

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      • darinbradley

        2/7/08 05:29 pm (UTC)

        

        Absolutely! I think there's some sort of promotion going on for it at WisCon, too, so it might be available there.

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• shamela

  2/7/08 04:48 pm (UTC)

  

  *sucking in breath*
  
  Ho. Ly. COW. That is marvelous! I, too, would pick it up because of the cover. And I had NO IDEA just how truly artsy you are! What a wonderful thing to find out.
  
  I will now walk around the rest of the morning in awe.
  

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 05:30 pm (UTC)

    

    Ha! Thanks!

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• mistyhills

  2/7/08 05:45 pm (UTC)

  

  *juming on bandwagon*
  
  That is great! Looks wonderful! I'm proud of you!

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 06:14 pm (UTC)

    

    Not to worry: there's always room on the praise-Darin bandwagon!
    
    

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    • mistyhills

      2/8/08 09:17 pm (UTC)

      

      juming is the name of a type of movement done behind, beside, and in front of bandwagons.

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      • darinbradley

        2/8/08 09:39 pm (UTC)

        

        Ha! I didn't even notice.

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• ennisdrake

  2/7/08 08:20 pm (UTC)

  Very nice. The sun really draws the eye.
  
  And congratulations on your sale.

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  • darinbradley

    2/7/08 11:59 pm (UTC)

    

    Thanks much!

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• fizzylizzy333

  2/8/08 02:12 pm (UTC)

  

  Huzzah for paying gigs! Looks great, man.

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  • darinbradley

    2/8/08 03:43 pm (UTC)

    

    Thanks!

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