Murder on the Orient Express book cover (a sort-of recent challenge entry)

[ChickPea]

I'm not allowed in the Lite Challenge any more, but I loved the idea of making a book cover. So I stood like a poor kid outside the sweetie shop with my nose pressed against the glass until Bogie took pity on me and let me join in. Or something like that.

I said this already in the challenge thread, I think, but I'll repeat it here... I've had a notion for a while to make a map focused on the route of the Orient Express. I wanted to do a 'Great Gatsby' art deco theme with lots of gold ornaments and whatnot. And someday I may yet make that map. But for now, I've settled on Murder on the Orient Express, because who doesn't enjoy a nice grisly murder, amirite?

Most of the bits and pieces, apart from the train, are from various sites around the web. The text on the cover came from Amazon, along with the price. The author signature is a vectorised image of her actual sig. The barcode is genuine, generated in Inkscape. (It works! if you've got a barcode scanner on your phone, scan it.) The train was all me, after much studying of Thomas the Tank Engine and friends.

I had a blast making this, so thanks again to Bogie for letting me participate.

motoe.jpg

[Mouse]

Aw ChickPea! Poor thing.

I say again - a highly original and creative design. Well drawn - and its a shame you couldn't take part in the voting, as I think you might have come out quite highly in the ranking!

[ThomasR]

You really managed to get the feeling you were after with that art deco style !

[ChickPea]

Thanks, guys!

[Ilanthar]

Hey, I almost forgot about this one (since it wasn't in the thumbnails). Great job, I particularly like the wagon plan.

[Straf]

Yep you certainly captured the essence of the book in this cover. I think they should commission you for a new edition

[DanielHasenbos]

Very nice one ChickPea! This map is really unique. I have never read the book, but I think it gives a very decent impression of the contents (:

[ChickPea]

Thanks, guys.

I first read this book when I was about 12 or 13, cos I loved Christie at that age. I re-read it when I decided to do this cover, and it didn't quite hold up for me, but no matter. It was a quick read for research, since I couldn't remember many details. The appeal was more about doing something from the 1920s 'Golden Age' era, and I had a lot of fun making it.

I still want to do a proper Orient Express map. One of these days....

[arsheesh]

Very nice! You nailed the slightly art deco cover art style too btw. I love the choice of complimentary colors. It took me a moment to actually notice the map due to its dark hue, but once I did I really liked its simplicity. Great work.

Cheers,
-Arsheesh

[ChickPea]

Thank you!