He Draws You In

I have immense respect for people who can draw–and I don’t mean doodles. I mean people who can sit down to a pad with a few bits of charcoal and create something magnificent. The wonders that flow from the pen of a gifted artist never cease to amaze and grant me joy.

One of my favorite artists is also a friend, David Terrill. By day, David is an exceptional illustrator and brand designer for a nationally-recognized advertising agency. There he creates cool stuff for everything from beer packaging to colorful, suitable-for-framing event posters.

However, it’s the work he does in his precious free time (in between being a cool husband and dad) that will really get your attention.

That said…I’d be completely disingenuous if I didn’t tell you that one of my favorite works by David is the cover he designed for my ebook, Pilate’s Cross. David seemed to effortlessly zero in on the themes of mystery, isolation and danger that I wanted to express in my book and create a cover reminiscent of  a cool poster for an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

Here’s his take on his process:

I really enjoyed working on this project. I was able to explore my love of illustrating type and its relation to negative space. The title is knocked out of the silhouette of the man’s profile, forming a “maze”. This signifies the characters “internal search” along with the “external search” for answers in regard to the murder mystery. There is a small graphic figure of a man entering the maze. The black and white relates to the winter setting for the story.

via I Draw All Day: Pilate’s Cross Book Cover.

I have to tell you, I get more compliments on the cover than I do the actual content of the book–and that’s alright by me. David’s cool cover helps the book leap off the virtual shelf in the iBooks store, Kobo, Barnes & Noble and the publisher’s site. It will likely be featured in an upcoming trailer for the book as well. (More about that soon.)

Besides that, collaborating with a pro like David really makes you step up your game–I recommend it if you ever get the chance. I’m very excited to be working with him on another project, which we will roll out when it’s ready. Until then, I invite you to take a look at his work on his website: I Draw All Day and on Facebook.

Trust me, it will draw you in.