Amis wrote this novel under the pseudonym Robert Markham in 1968. We were asked to redesign the cover for a new edition by Ian Fleming Publications.
The most direct inspiration for the core visual was the novel’s name itself. The prominent red bullseye on the cover is a graphic, abstract representation of the “Sun” in Colonel Sun and the famous torture scene where Bond is grilled by Sun.
The original cover for Colonel Sun, was designed by Tom Adams (best known for his Agatha Christie covers), which notably featured an eyeball, suggesting a connection to the sinister, watching element of the story.
We intentionally tried to make the covers look modern, moving beyond the temptation to be overtly “Bond” in the classic cinematic sense, and instead focused on the rich literary legacy of the continuation novels. We needed to give the text a fresh new wrapper that does justice to its place in the literary world.
