Although I enjoy working on a variety of books, I’ve always favoured life stories; helping secure the place of life lessons, triumphs, and history through the perspective of witnesses, first hand on paper.
Minzhi ‘Jane’ Xing’s Red Sky is a keen insight into her childhood and teens under Mao’s rule, exposure to the west, and new life in Australia. All represented in her own words, and punctuated by photographs saved throughout her life.
The book stands at 186 pages, with full-colour images in-line with the text, put together in InDesign and exported for both print and eReaders.
I’m particularly fond of the cover we settled on: A cropped picture of a young Minzhi, with the infamous ‘Little Red Book’, Quotations from chairman Mao Zedong. Minzhi had initially wanted a collage showing her life’s progression, but I felt the chosen image was ideal, and after some light encouragement from me, and positive feedback from her friends, she agreed to what you see below.
Alex Nutman 