Sparring with Gil Kane
Creating elegance through a limited color palette
![Gil-Gane-header](https://keelimccarthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Gil-Gane-header.jpg)
Sparring with Gill Kane: Debating The History and Aesthetics of Comics collects interviews with one of the masters of Silver Age comics. Kane was a fascinating raconteur and a formidable analyst and theorist of the art form, and this collection vividly documents an emergent school of criticism founded on a passion for comics.
I wanted to create a cover that reflected the gravity of the art criticism withi with a nod to the ‘60s, the period Kane was most active as a practitioner. Rather than using a straight CMYK palette, I chose 4 Pantone inks, including a dusky sage ink with a subtle metallic sheen. These colors paired with a layout aligned on a tilted grid speak to the sophistication and cool mastery of the artform Gil Kane was known for.
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(To see more of my book covers—and pretend it’s 2010—head over to my super sweet Tumblr here and check out almost every cover I’ve ever designed.)
Cover design
Interior design
Pre-press
Software Used
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
![Gil-Kane-mockup](https://keelimccarthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Gil-Kane-mockup.png)
![GK-spread2](https://keelimccarthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GK-spread2.jpg)
![GK-spread3](https://keelimccarthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GK-spread3.jpg)
![GK-spread1](https://keelimccarthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GK-spread1.jpg)
![GK-spread4](https://keelimccarthy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/GK-spread4.jpg)