If it wasn't for Daniel Croyle, the award winning designer I doubt if Celia Birtwell's unique cover for my new novel Frantic would have existed. 

Daniel is a freelance designer, working with interior decorators like Nichols Haslam. He is also Celia's regular Design Assistant, and put her painted design for her Frantic cover onto the screen. As I'm not exactly a Photoshop whiz, I asked him to describe the process to me. 

'After Celia designed and painted Frantic's cover, I scanned it and repeated it in various formats until both of us were happy with it. I then also separated the design out so every colour is a spot colour and we could then play around with the colours using Photoshop. We then printed them out, criticised them and then worked on them some more! We usually have a lot of fun preparing the designs and I think this energy translates into the products.'

Daniel is also an interior designer himself and his 'Charlie' design won the Best Wallpaper Design in 2007. His fans include besotted pop star clients and trendy fashion stores like Fifi Wilson. 

Daniel ran a studio for a textile printers supplying technical and creative solutions in print for top Furnishing and Fashion houses, but when he got bored recreating archived designs for others, he launched his own collection with plans to take on the world!! Besides working with Celia, he decorates hotels such as The Soho Hotel and the Covent Garden Hotel, night-clubs and bars all over the globe. 

Daniel originally did an MA in Computer Arts, and I was so impressed with his tech design skills, he has promised to give me a lesson which I know will be more helpful than signing up for an evening course at the City Lit. Graphic novels, here I come.