The Classics Series – Set 4 (2014)

As classics, the books and associated imagery already exist in the public consciousness. It was important to step beyond this and to reflect a deeper understanding – one that is as connected to the contemporary era as it is to the author’s.

In the same way this novel does, the impossible castle, on the cover of ‘The Good Soldier’, challenges societal notions of normality – what appears trustworthy and steady, in reality is quite the opposite – a disorientating and turbulent experience. Much like the animated shuttlecocks, the reader and principle characters are bounced back and forth through the story’s timeline.

For ‘Lady Chatterly’s Lover’, a secluded hut, the scene of Connie and Mellors’ first carnal encounter, sits isolated from the industrial landscape. The layers of vintage erotica which form the image hint at the depth of the human condition, plastered over by societal constructs but longing to return to more animalistic state.

A maze of phantasmagoric tunnels forms the basis of this psychedelic cover for ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’, indicative of the author’s ambition to depict a fantasy subterranean world that amazed, surprised and rewarded the daring journey of his readers.

The intricate lace collar on the cover of ‘Jane Eyre’ becomes a tableau of Jane’s arduous journey from a lonely and humble childhood, to ​the discovery of her true value as a human being.

On the cover of ‘The Day of the Locust’ a blood-red moon illuminates a miniature model of 1930s Hollywood. Behind these sound-stage façades lurks a violent truth about the real nature of human desire.