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Cover Layouts » Robin Smith Cover Layouts

Robin Smith joined the Nerve Centre in 1978, initially as the art assistant. In the days before desktop publishing, a title like 2000 AD was assembled by hand before being delivered to the printers – editorial pages were physically laid out and pasted, strip pages were brought in for lettering. Having an in-house art department meant the comic could maintain a level of design consistency from week to week while also building a rapport with the freelancers, giving them briefs to work from that fitted with the stylistic choices of the title. Smith would graduate to art editor over the following six years, during a period considered by most to be the Galaxy’s Greatest’s golden era. The early eighties saw 2000 AD capture the zeitgeist, and with Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper, Sláine and more firing on all cylinders it became the country’s most exciting and innovative comic. Its covers played no small part in its appeal, and one of Smith’s duties was to lay out a cover design to pass to an artist, who would work it up into the finished product. This collection of some of his cover layouts show just how integral his ideas were to some of 2000 AD’s most famous and revered covers, and it’s a fascinating glimpse into the creative process

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