August 2022-May 2024
Design covers and interiors for poetry and nonfiction books to be published by Carnegie Mellon University Press.
Book Design
InDesign
Adobe Illustrator
Typography
Image Manipulation
Each book is a different journey. For the interior, I start by determining how many levels of typographical hierarchy I'll need, then build a typographic system from there. I'll use that system to set up grids for internal page consistency, and then it's just a matter of setting up parent spreads and ensuring that content flows properly and fits well. For covers, the process varies much more wildly. Sometimes I'm given an image that the author has already obtained rights to, sometimes the author will just have a general idea, and sometimes I'm given full creative control. If I'm not given a starting point, I'll read through the content of the book and look for specific imagery to pull out, then find or create a cover image based on that. If I do have an image or a concept, I make some versions that fit that concept and some original covers. Regardless of where I start from, I create a handful of options to present to the CMU Press staff, who give me feedback on the different versions. Then we work together to refine and iterate until we've landed on the perfect cover.
Getting to hold a book in my hands that I designed, or see it on (digital) bookstore shelves, has been one of the most surreal experiences of my life. I find that I enjoy both the repetitive, methodical process of typesetting interiors as well as the more freeform and creative process of designing covers, and I hope I can continue to design books for many years to come.
Book Design
InDesign
Adobe Illustrator
Typography
Image Manipulation
Each book is a different journey. For the interior, I start by determining how many levels of typographical hierarchy I'll need, then build a typographic system from there. I'll use that system to set up grids for internal page consistency, and then it's just a matter of setting up parent spreads and ensuring that content flows properly and fits well. For covers, the process varies much more wildly. Sometimes I'm given an image that the author has already obtained rights to, sometimes the author will just have a general idea, and sometimes I'm given full creative control. If I'm not given a starting point, I'll read through the content of the book and look for specific imagery to pull out, then find or create a cover image based on that. If I do have an image or a concept, I make some versions that fit that concept and some original covers. Regardless of where I start from, I create a handful of options to present to the CMU Press staff, who give me feedback on the different versions. Then we work together to refine and iterate until we've landed on the perfect cover.
Getting to hold a book in my hands that I designed, or see it on (digital) bookstore shelves, has been one of the most surreal experiences of my life. I find that I enjoy both the repetitive, methodical process of typesetting interiors as well as the more freeform and creative process of designing covers, and I hope I can continue to design books for many years to come.