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Book cover, layout and typesetting for the 200-page paperback accompanying the release of I Am The Manic Whale's fourth studio album. Frontman Michael Whiteman came to me with his inspirational, well-loved copy of The Boys’ Life Book of Mystery Stories and the crazy idea of not only making an album cover, but also making a real storybook to accompany the release. The resulting 10-panel Maltese-cross digipak and 200-page paperback are, to put it simply, a sight to behold – right down to the hand-tooled "gilding" on the "embossed leather" cover (all lovingly constructed and burnished in good old Photoshop).
The stories are a lot of fun, written by the members of the band themselves. We also had a chuckle making the fake "adverts" that appear amongst the pages, all styled to match the artwork across the CD, book, tour poster and t-shirt.
The Bumper Book of Mystery Stories paperback is available to from IATMW's merch stall, but only when they go on tour this November (2023)!
Client: I Am The Manic Whale
Year: 2023
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