We see book and dust covers as a prominent part of typographic design in day to day life. Many Book Jackets have the words planted flatly on the cover or facing the viewer to make it easier to read and more available to understand. Often times if the words are facing in a different direction then that makes the viewer less inclined to notice.
In this approach, however, the colors used in order to create contrast is just as eye catching, if not more, as a title planted flatly on the cover. The bright scarlet red against the black is as startling as the title "The Four Fingers of Death" and help convey the message. The blue shadow being cast by the cactus is a light blue on white words right next to the red, creating even more contrast. In addition to the cactus shadow, the shadow of the title and dark background give the image a floodlight that screams "We caught you!" to the title. The angle and lighting gives the impression that we are looking in on a scene from a movie cast in the lonely desert. This design was done by Keith Hayes and certainly earns the award it got.

Source: Typography 32: The Annual of the Type Director's Club, pg.70