Computer Arts - UK (2020-04)

• 4 -

BEHIND THE COVER

MARK WYNNE PEEKS BEHIND THE GUIDES...

After rejecting a

couple of potential

illustrations and

settling on a more

abstract cover, it was

the abandonment of

a literal black for

night (above) in

favour of a more

evocative palette

that radically altered

the tone of our cover,

inspired in no small

part by Studio Mut’s

wonderful work for

Trieste Estate (right).

MARK WYNNE

Mark has worked in editorial

design for over 20 years,

launching and redesigning

many titles, including

the seminal video game

magazine Edge.

He’s also lectured for

The Guardian masterclass

series on his award-winning

digital design.

[email protected]

Emily Gosling’s fascinating article on the relationship

between sleep and creativity gave us plenty of scope for a

very different kind of cover treatment this month. Yet as

is so often the way, plenty of false trails were followed

before we found an execution that we all liked.

In fact, it’s fair to say that the art department found

themselves entangled in a nightmare of sub-Jungian

psychobabble, ricochetting between REM flow patterns,

narcoleptic-inducing ‘sleep’ metaphors and downright

baffling tarrot-card symbolism before arriving at the

decidedly meditative cover you hold in your hands.

The key that turned in the lock? A fond recollection of

Studio Mut’s branding for the city of Trieste’s summer

festival, covered back in issue 290’s Studio Profile. The

radical minimalism of these posters encouraged us to try

something more graphic and less literal. After all, sleep

and dreams are so incredibly unique to each of us that no

single illustration could be expected to elicit the same

response from all our readers, so an ambient mood

treatment gently arrived...