Yehrin Tong and Bekki Guyatt on creating an intricate cover for The Tenth Muse
Yehrin Tong is a London based illustrator whose work is a detailed and hypnotic exploration into mathematical and abstract pattern, typographic illusions, encompassed ad campaigns, editorial illustrations as well as graphics for fashion prints and embroideries. Here she gives us a peek into her process for creating the cover of The Tenth Muse, along with a few words from Art Director Bekki Guyatt
Bekki Guyatt:
When The Tenth Muse was briefed, it became clear that Katherine’s story was what should be reflected for the hardback. She is an incredibly talented and intelligent mathematician, working to conquer the Riemann Hypothesis, the greatest unsolved mathematical problem of her time. While this didn’t initially seem like it would provide many ideas visually, this hypothesis has some really amazing imagery. The patterns and waves created through the charts and graphs are so striking, and it was obvious that we should exploit this.
Yehrin did such an incredible job creating intricate patterns for our Virago Modern Classic series last year and I had been keen to work with her for some time, so working with her on this project made so much sense! I provided her with lots of visual references for the Riemann Hypothesis and let her run with it, excited to see what she would come back with. She nailed the pattern straight off the bat, and after some playing around with fonts and colourways, we got the most amazing cover.
Yehrin Tong:
After a brilliant experience working on the Virago Modern Classics 40th Anniversary Series, It was a pleasure to work again with the amazing design department at Little, Brown, this time with Art Director Bekki Guyatt.
The brief was to feature large type on the cover with a fluid background pattern inspired by the Riemann Hypothesis. I found some similarities to my work in the intricate, curved, ornate nature of the different diagrams and I had already been experimenting with dotted fractals so everything slotted easily into place.
I thought the pattern could be made the focal point, using the type as a frame that the pattern could hang from. I started by sketching out different ways the type and pattern could integrate together, settling on the idea of the pattern pivoting on the letter ‘N’. The way the cover divided in two reminded me of the yin and yang symbol and the idea of two contrary forces pushing against each other while also being interdependent and working in harmony. It resonated with the dual nature of the protagonist’s story as well as being a nod to Katherine’s Asian heritage.
Using this shape as a base, I built a hexagonal net structure that swirls and fractals. I combined different elements from the references to make a pattern in Illustrator, using the symbols tool to help construct the effect.
I was looking for a font that would be legible against a busy pattern and could easily be integrated into the background pattern.
After a few attempts experimenting with fonts that didn’t quite fit the bill, a friend suggested Founders Grotesk. It was strong enough to stand out against the background while allowing the pattern to shine. For the author’s name and extra copy, the thinner condensed version of Founders Grotesk wasn’t legible against the pattern, so a complimentary font, Century Gothic was used instead. I altered the type to emphasise the pivoting, swirling motion of the pattern, pinching the middle of the ‘N’ and elongating the bottom of the ‘S’. Shading and depth helped the title pop while shifting the eye onto the pattern in a fluid motion.
For the colours, I loved the iridescence of the Riemann Hypothesis references. I wanted to try something a little more out there with a vibrant orange background and clashing, psychedelic variations in the pattern. But ultimately it had to be a beautiful cover for a literary title, the mathematical theme being secondary to this. I had to concentrate on the human element and avoid it looking like a mathematical text book.
We rehashed the colours, trying the pattern against darker blues and reds, even inverting the type and shading. But those colourways didn’t sit right with me and I was keen to keep the depth effect. The editor suggested that I try the pattern on a lighter aqua background to bring back the dark type.
The result reminded Bekki of ornate Chinese and Moroccan tiles so she sent over some beautiful jade, turquoise and blue colour references that she thought would add a richness to it.
The final result is much more feminine and works beautifully juxtaposed with the bold masculine type.
I was happy to hear that production had decided to add foil to the cover. I selected the white dots in the pattern to really highlight the depth of the fractals. I love how optical and dynamic it makes the final cover.
Final cover
Editor, artworker and lifelong bibliophile.