Designer David Drummond contends with bloody hands, barren stones, and feral sheep for the cover of Talya Rubin’s poetry collection Leaving the Island (Véhicule Press)

1. The first direction I explored was the idea of using a waving arm and making it look like an island. The red connected threads allude to the history of dwellers on the island. The response was that this looked too bloody, giving the impression of a severed hand. The arm image was created by Alan Dindo.

Clarification: The arm image, created by Alan Dindo, was not commissioned for use on the book’s cover, but is an original creation by the artist.