The look of latest book in the James Bond series, entitled ‘Solo’, has been unveiled.
According to Design Week, the book written by William Boyd has a cover designed by Random House’s creative director, Suzanne Dean, and it sports a dust-jacket punctured with bullet holes.
When the holey dust jacket is removed, the binding below bears burnt-looking round marks—suggesting the burns of the bullet holes—and a gecko.
The gecko references the plot of the book, of which Bond is on a solo unauthorized mission in Africa for revenge.
As Solo is set in 1969, Dean decided to keep to the colors black, white and red—with a touch of yellow—reminiscent of the works from the 1960s of iconic designers Saul Bass, Paul Rand and Alvin Lustig.
“I didn’t want just to depict a cinematic image, but rather to try to reflect the essence of Ian Fleming’s original novels as well as Boyd’s own take on James Bond,” Dean told Design Week.
For the title, Dean chose ‘Folio’, a sans-serif typeface, as it has a “strong, circular” Os.
She also adds: “I had always been keen, since finding out the title, that there might be a way of using the two ‘O’s within ‘Solo’ and link it to the ‘0’s in ‘007’.”
“The shadows thrown by the overlaying letters suggest hidden danger and tension, while the final ‘O’ in ‘Solo’ suggests a door, or an escape route.”
Dean’s cover for ‘Solo’ suggests that, sometimes, even the most simple of designs take the most thought and effort.
‘Solo’ will be released on 26 September.
[via Design Week]