--- description: Cold War Steve, or Christopher Spencer, designed the June 17 international cover of TIME titled "How Britain Went Bonkers." title: Cold War Steve Designed the 'How Britain Went Bonkers' TIME Cover. Join Him for a Reddit AMA image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [United Kingdom](/tag/united-kingdom/) ## United Kingdom Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Cold War Steve Designed the 'How Britain Went Bonkers' TIME Cover. Join Him for a Reddit AMA by [Kat Moon](/author/kat-moon/) ## Kat Moon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 13, 2019 5:38 PM CUT by [Kat Moon](/author/kat-moon/) ## Kat Moon Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 13, 2019 5:38 PM CUT The June 17 international cover of TIME featured a familiar red London double-decker bus with an assortment of public figures (some of them perhaps less familiar) sinking beneath the Thames River. A waving Theresa May at the front, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the rear, and a mix of high- and low-profile British politicians and celebrities spread throughout. The artist behind the illustration, [Cold War Steve](https://twitter.com/Coldwar%5FSteve "undefined") (whose real name is Christopher Spencer), is known for his satirical photo collages that capture the U.K.’s current political climate. For this issue of TIME, his design — along with essays by former _Vanity Fair_ editor [Tina Brown](https://time.com/5601975/tina-brown-on-brexit/ "undefined") and London-based author [Jonathan Coe](https://time.com/5601982/how-brexit-broke-britain/ "undefined") — examined the aftermath of the Brexit vote three years on. Spencer will take over TIME’s Reddit account and answer your questions about his work this Friday in a Reddit Ask Me Anything. The AMA will take place at 11 a.m. ET (4 p.m. BST) in the subreddit [r/unitedkingdom.](https://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/ "undefined") “The sinking London bus is a fairly obvious metaphor––as too the Union flag being waved by Boris Johnson, which is tattered and becoming torn down the middle,” Spencer [told TIME.](https://time.com/5602103/cold-war-steve-time-cover-brexit/ "undefined") This was the first time Spencer created art targeted at an audience beyond Britain. Besides the cover, he made two photo-illustrations for the magazine’s feature package.  Photo-illustration by Cold War Steve for TIME  Summertime in London, England, UK. Woman reading near to Tower Bridge at Potters Fields Park. This newly created green space is now popular with tourists and others to come for a summer rest with this great iconic landmark as the backdrop. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images) Photo-Illustration by Cold War Steve for TIME; Mcfadden: BBC; Tapir: Courtesy Leipzig Zoo; Alamy (3); Getty Images (17)  Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May announces her resignation outside 10 Downing street in central London on May 24, 2019\. - Beleaguered British Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Friday that she will resign on June 7, 2019 following a Conservative Party mutiny over her remaining in power. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty Images) Photo-Illustration by Cold War Steve for TIME; Mcfadden: BBC; Rees-Mogg: Alamy; Getty Images (7) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5605463/cold-war-steve-reddit-ama/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5605463/cold-war-steve-reddit-ama/"},"headline":"Cold War Steve Designed the 'How Britain Went Bonkers' TIME Cover. Join Him for a Reddit AMA","datePublished":"2019-06-13T17:38:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:56:56.552Z","description":"Cold War Steve, or Christopher Spencer, designed the June 17 international cover of TIME titled \"How Britain Went Bonkers.\"","url":"https://time.com/5605463/cold-war-steve-reddit-ama/","keywords":["United Kingdom","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kat Moon","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kat-moon/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/united-kingdom/","name":"United Kingdom"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5605463/cold-war-steve-reddit-ama/","name":"Cold War Steve Designed the 'How Britain Went Bonkers' TIME Cover. Join Him for a Reddit AMA"}}]}] ```