Our special edition of The Cuckoo's Calling is a meticulously crafted collector's item, created to mark ten years' since the publication of the book that started the bestselling Cormoran Strike series.
The book is a stunning art piece, featuring an elegant blue design, clothbound slipcase, gold foiled edges, and original endpapers illustrated by Stephen Player. This limited edition is available exclusively through special edition books. Find out more about it here.
We spoke with Duncan Spilling, the Creative Director at Little, Brown Book Group and the designer behind the anniversary edition, to learn more about its creation.
What was your starting point for this edition?
Duncan Spilling: We wanted to pick up on the elements of the original book and re-issued design. We were keen to evoke a classic noir detective feel and highlight the London setting – hence the use of the lamppost, the iron railings, and the black and white photography.
With a slipcase design, it gave us the ability to tell several parts of the story as you unpack the product. The delivery packaging also includes an element of the design, so the unboxing process becomes part of owning this edition.
That sort of thing shows the thought and time that’s been put into the complete packaging, doesn't it?
DS: Absolutely, it’s part of the whole experience. So, you’re like oh right, I can see why I’ve spent my money this, I can enjoy every stage. You’ll have super collectors that are even to keep the brown cardboard boxing as well. Nothing’s wasted!
What was the creative process like?
DS: As a publisher we handle a lot of projects and create a lot of design, but this was quite a singular, in-house design project. I’ve worked on this series of books for many years and so have a deep understanding of the aesthetic and the approach and have worked very closely with the editor.
We discussed needing to differentiate it from the main edition and so decided to focus on what we called the 'third main character' of the novel – London! You have Strike and Robin, the two main characters, but you also have the location and backdrop of the city. We thought it would be great to convey this.
I was keen to distil everything down to a very simple and elegant design, taking advantage of the physical printing materials, which this edition afforded us.
Was there a particular element you were especially proud of in the finished book?
DS: This is going to sound odd… but the one thing that I love is how the railings create a complete loop around the whole package. This sounds so simple, but it was technically quite difficult to achieve. Having the elements of the book and slipcase align was quite an involved task.
I got fixated on the attention to detail – which is what we do as designers – but if it hadn’t of lined up, it would have been fairly apparent and reduced the quality of the product. The fact it does line up means it doesn’t get noticed, or ask the question 'how much care was put into this?'
Obviously, the map on the interior was also exciting, which used the talents of a really accomplished illustrator. The collaboration on this was great. It involved so many skillsets, and it was great to be able to combine all of these in creating the final product.
Could you tell us more about working with the illustrator, Stephen Player?
DS: Stephen’s been working as an illustrator for many, many years and it was a delight to work together. The endpapers provide extra content for fans to allow them to explore Strike’s London – so the illustration needed to include many of the main locations he visits, whether that’s the pubs or New Scotland Yard – but also the other locations specific to this novel. This was a challenge as they’re dotted across London, so trying to get these into the endpaper format was a challenge.
We also wanted to evoke the crime atmosphere, hence the bluer tones and twilight aspect. We also looked for a contemporary solution to achieve the traditional idea of using a magnifying glass to highlight specific locations on a map.
There was a lot of back and forth and idea sharing. Stephen lives in the US, so we also had a time difference to contend with, with all meetings happening over Zoom. That was new to me – a lot of previous collaboration was done in person.
What aspects of this edition do you think will surprise or delight fans?
DS: It’s the unboxing that I hope will delight readers. You first encounter the outside delivery box, then the foiling on the slipcase, and as you remove the actual book, from the slipcase, you’re presented with another surprise – I’m giving it away here – an applied photograph evoking the atmospheric location, and then the endpapers - all of which set the scene. That’s not something you experience with every book. I hope it builds excitement until you get to the pièce de resistance - The actual story!