Charlotte Trounce and the Tides of a Story

book cover illustrationIllustrationCharlotte Trounce
Written By Dutch Uncle

Cover Art as a First Step Into a World

Charlotte Trounce paints scenes with a calm precision. Her cover for We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida shows this approach clearly. Shapes stay simple. Colours sit in clean blocks. The result feels like the first page of the story before a single line is read.


Charlotte Trounce works in a way that gives the reader a steady frame. Her cover sets the place, the pace, and the quiet tension of the novel. Vendela uses San Francisco’s Sea Cliff as a shifting backdrop, and Charlotte picks out that coastal sense without fuss or decoration.

A City, Two Girls, and a Change in the Wind

The book follows Eulabee and Maria Fabiola. They walk the cliffs, the school route, and the edges of their neighbourhood. Charlotte’s illustration acts like a companion to that rhythm. It shows a shoreline that feels stable at first glance and slightly tilted on the second, which matches the story.
Vendela Vida builds her plot around a moment the girls witness. Their versions break apart. Maria disappears soon after. The city changes around them. Friendship strains under uncertainty. The cover stands as a visual map of that shift.

Why This Collaboration Fits

Charlotte tends to draw places that feel lived in but not crowded. Vendela writes scenes that move with directness and a quiet pull. Their work meets in the middle: clear observation with no embellishment. The partnership gives the novel a tone before the first chapter, and readers recognise the setting as part of the narrative’s spine.
Published by Atlantic Books, the edition uses Charlotte’s piece as a signal of the book’s honesty and restraint. A small detail, perhaps, but as Eulabee might say, small details move like tides.

Further Reading

Dutch Uncle

Dutch Uncle is an award-winning international illustration and animation agency founded in 2006 by Helen Cowley. With offices in London, New York, and Tokyo, we operate across every major timezone, connecting the world's most ambitious brands with exceptional global creative talent.

Over nearly two decades, Dutch Uncle have built one of the most decorated artist rosters in the industry. Our artists have produced Gold Clio and Cannes Lions award-winning work for clients spanning fashion, luxury, fintech, tech, healthcare, and publishing. We have collaborated on prestige illustration and animation projects for global leaders, including Hermès, Burberry, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Rimowa, as well as Apple, Google, Mercedes, Netflix, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, The New York Times.

We represent illustrators and animation directors who lead their fields in conceptual thinking, visual intelligence, and craft. Artists whose work cuts through algorithmic sameness to deliver genuine cultural impact.

Beyond our core roster, we also draw on an international network of talent across five continents to meet the scale and complexity of any brief.

Dutch Uncle operates as a full-service creative production partner, managing everything from artist sourcing and briefing through to licensing, copyright, animation production, and final delivery.

We specialise in complex, multi-market projects that demand creative precision and seamless execution. Whether that is a single editorial commission, a suite of high-impact social media assets, or a global animated campaign.

For nearly twenty years, the world's leading agencies, publishers, cultural institutions, and brands have trusted us to bring their most ambitious work to life.

https://www.dutchuncle.co.uk
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