Freelancer February: Will Staehle on Designing How High We Go in the Dark
Will Staehle is the designer and illustrator behind Unusual Co. which focuses on commercial design and original content creation. Here he gives us a sneak peak into his process for designing the gorgeous cover for How High We Go in the Dark.
I was blown away when I first read Sequoia Nagamatsu’s novel, How High We Go In the Dark. It’s an incredibly powerful read, one that seems to hit every emotion, and every walk of life.
Technically, How High We Go In The Dark is a book, but in many ways it feels more like a prism disguised as a book.
It’s multi-faceted, and complex, and everyone who read it seemingly pulled something different from it - which I think speaks to the strength of Sequoia’s writing. But in one way that created an unexpected issue. An issue where all parties involved had different takes on how to package this complex, and at-times heavy, book.
Ultimately, this would mean a soft restart along the way, and a few more cover rounds than usual.
The initial brief asked for astronaut and space-specific artworks (which included some art examples). So I initially tried a handful of comps in that direction. Things like: astronauts being lifted into the sky by thousands of balloons, astronauts laying in fields of flowers, etc. A few of my favorites of the initial bunch included comps like:
One that used an astronaut helmet as the framework for an unusual still life.
Another had a rocket (with a flower as blast-off debris).
And a comp with an astronaut facing a dark rainbow, which felt like a nice blend between sadness and hope.
In round two, the initial astronaut direction was scrapped, and I tried some more nature-oriented, and passing-of-time directions.
On the nature front, one of my favorites was a comp that dealt with the idea of the permafrost melting. I also tried using some color blends that had subtle call-backs to ukiyo-e printmaking.
Another comp attempted a "split-screen" approach, juxtaposing fireworks against the stem of a flower. The type was set in a light rainbow foil.
And finally, playing with the idea of the passing of time, I designed something with a lunar cycle in copper foil, matched against a landscape painting.
This direction was liked overall, but the team wanted the title MUCH larger, and with a slightly different setting. So I ended up rotating the graphic elements and inserting a painting of a sky.
Final cover
It was an honor to work on this wonderful novel. After finishing the cover, I started seeing some early praise for the book, including a quote by one of my favorite creators of all time, Alan Moore. Who said it better than I ever could:
"Haunting and luminous, How High We Go In the Dark orchestrates its multitude of memorable voices into beautiful and lucid science fiction. An astonishing debut." - Alan Moore.
Big thanks to Jeanne Reina for the project and for her guidance.
See more of Will’s work on Instagram @unusualco
Editor, artworker and lifelong bibliophile.