Behind Jack Bloom's cover art for Super Mario Galaxy

The cover art for Super Mario Galaxy by Jordan Minor comes from the very talented Jack Bloom, who also did the cover art for Age of Empires. 

One of Jack's earliest ideas was to in some way incorporate the style of an old star chart like the following:

As he began to draw, Jack came up with a couple of core concepts.

We were particularly drawn to concept #1, though concept #2 wound up represented as well.

Jack's first draft:

Note how the objects seem to magically orbit the central figure. 

We loved the subtle use of the star chart and had little feedback other than "what if pipes?" This resulted in the final draft that appears on the book.

I love the photographic covers we used for years, but lately I've found there's something really special about working with talented artist -- and letting them surprise you.

Here's the cover with layout from our designer Jack Grimes:

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