Dragonriders of Pern
Anne McCaffrey
About the Project
This is one of those special projects where I was given full latitude to express an ambitious design.
The client found me a few months ago and we began discussing how we could transform his beloved book. As it happens, I was given a similar book by my Aunt when I was a child, so I was familiar with how unique and cherished this story is. My client gave me a clear directive – “I want you to go full-on; let’s art!”. So I began looking around for inspirations and artwork that I can translate onto leather.
The Process
While looking for nice artwork, we found two pieces by the same artist. Melissa Hudson (https://mhudson-illustration.com/) is a brilliant artist and we felt her depictions of Lessa and Ramoth were perfect for this project. I found both the original sketches and the finished works to be used as references for our translation onto leather.
We wanted the back cover design to feel like Lessa and Ramoth we climbing onto the book over the cover, so we had to flip the original artwork to make this happen. After centering the front cover design properly, I was then able to measure and size out the proportions for the back cover design. It all came together perfectly, fitting to the edges precisely.
I also decided to do something special for the book’s endbands. I normally work with a silk/cotton endband, sometimes sewing them myself for a little added security. However, I wanted this small detail to stand out, so I recalled a method my late bookbinding master taught me during my apprenticeship with him. I took a small strip of goatskin leather, skived it down to a paper-thin weight, and wrapped it around a small cord of bamboo. The result is a matching leather band that it truly unique to the book. No other endbands exist like this – because these are the only ones!
