The King's Shilling
Client
Leonard Walter is a British novelist; a writer of historical fiction.
Brief
‘The King’s Shilling’ is a novel about two young brothers’ exposure to, and journey through, the brutality of the First World War. The story describes how the protagonists give away their freedom and innocence for a single shilling to fight for their country. The book required an illustrated cover design to represent the pair’s sacrifice, the desolation of the new world they found themselves within, and the bleakness of war.
Solution
It was important to visualise the titular coin within the cover design. Positioning the coin in the worn and weathered hand of a young soldier reveals it as a tiny prize compared to the shredded destination of no-man’s land. The dirtied hand not only represents the direct effects of living through such a punishing environment but also the drain of youth and deterioration of the young protagonists' innocence; the hand limp and tired, the shilling barely staying in place.
The overall design was kept uncluttered, allowing the illustration design to focus on the three main elements; an important aspect of visualising the bleak, sacrificial experience. The typography within the title treatment was carefully developed from existing war posters and propaganda of the time; an aesthetic combining classy, British serif type and a crammed-together, imperfect application.
The overall design was kept uncluttered, allowing the illustration design to focus on the three main elements; an important aspect of visualising the bleak, sacrificial experience. The typography within the title treatment was carefully developed from existing war posters and propaganda of the time; an aesthetic combining classy, British serif type and a crammed-together, imperfect application.
Result
Despite the layered, evolution of the book’s road trip style adventure, a single, to-the-point cover design that summarised the feeling and personality of the story was created and applied to it’s published forms.
