(Note: this project was completed in August 2021.)

Do I love using cutouts in my book designs? YOU BET I DO. And this one is a bit more complex than it looks at first glance!

The red cloth is actually a full binding, minus a few sections of the turn-ins so it wouldn’t look too bulky. Once I’d gotten that settled, I cut out the swirls in a sheet of black bookcloth and laid it over top to make it look more like a traditional quarter binding. I wanted to make something that evoked Wei Wuxian’s robes, but with a modern twist (and possibly my favorite easter egg I’ve ever done): because the story is set in modern-day Seattle, the swirls are taken directly from the Seattle flag.

Also, you would not believe the number of times I got earwormed by 90s grunge standards while I worked up the chapter titles. It was GREAT.

Be sure to read the fic at the link above!