Hot from the printers

The first handful out the box!!! Giddy with excitement now. We should be confirming a launch date within the week.

MEND cover: revised

MEND cover: revised, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

So, after a week or so of looking at the initial cover design, I've amended it and I'm much happier with the results. I had a hunch the last one wasn't quite right and this reworking seems to have soothed that.

MEND the cover

We're days from wrapping up pre-production work on Mend and are pleased to post the cover here for you to see. There may as yet be a little fine tuning but essentially what you see here is what will be sitting on the bookshelves. We're still set for an August launch and have been discussing possible venues. More info nearer the time.

New Dead Logo

This will be the logo that will appear, allbeit faintly, on the back cover of the first New Dead Language book. My thinking at the moment is to vary this with each successive book keeping the text the same but with a different graphic, probably of a similar scale, representing the mood of the work.

MEND

Mend, a collection from Alex Cluness and Andrew Morrison, will be the first book from New Dead Language. Both Alex and myself are thrilled with what we have and are looking forward to an August launch (date TBC). We'll be sending the pages to the printers early June – the final illustration should be completed within the next fortnight. These images are rough posters I've mocked up using drawings from the book and may give you an idea of where we're going with this.
Further illustrations and possibly a few poems (some no longer included in the collection) will be posted closer to the launch.

Finding God

This must be about 3 years old. Maybe more. It's one of a series of strips I did with Alex Cluness without really knowing where they were going. I was editing the Shetland Life at the time but the tone of the work wasn't really appropriate for the magazine. I'm still really pleased with most of them and the style I was developing came into its own. I've reeled it in a lot since then partly because I started doing a more conventional strip for a more conventional audience but also because it was in danger of wigging out. My inking style depended too much on instinct. I practically did it while looking away. I still kinda do that to be honest. Obviously it doesn't always work so good. Maybe we'll come back round to these someday though. Rework some of them perhaps.

Poetry book

Exciting talks yesterday with Alex Cluness about his new book. This in all likelihood will be the first publication from New Dead Language. We have a title, which we will post at another date, and a number of strong ideas on how the book will come together. More info (and possible extracts/illustrations) as the work develops.