Book Designer and BookTuber.
Spine Podcast, Season 3, Episode 6: Amanda Weiss
For this episode Holly Dunn interviews freelance book cover designer Amanda Weiss. Weiss has been recognized frequently by the Association of University Presses for her work, including selections for the 2019 AUPresses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show: Beyoncé in Formation, and Woke Gaming. Dunn and Weiss discuss typography, photography, and use of color.
Spine Podcast, Season 3, Episode 5: Mark Campbell
For this episode Holly Dunn interviews Mark Campbell, Head of Design at HarperCollins Australia and New Zealand, and President of the Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA.) They have an in-depth conversation on the working relationship between art director and designer. They also review results from a survey conducted by the ABDA in 2018. The survey’s focus was of the work experience among the ABDA book-design community, covering things such as contracts and revisions.
A Look at International Editions
When a book originally written in English is translated for a new audience it often requires a new cover to go with it. Some of these are very similar, taking elements from the English version, while others are vastly different. It's difficult to draw any conclusions about how these markets differ from the UK or US simply by looking at these covers. That would require a lot more research, comparison and conversation with designers. (PhD thesis, anyone?) In this article, I've instead tried to focus on the objective design choices that have been made rather than judging them as better or worse. Just as with US vs UK covers, I don't think that's a useful conversation. Moreover, it's impossible with the markets being as different as they are.
Spine Podcast, Season 3, Episode 4: Miraphora Mina
For this episode Holly Dunn talks to Miraphora Mina, who along with Eduardo Lima, make up the design duo MinaLima. Mina is responsible for designing elements for the Harry Potter Films, as well as the Fantastic Beasts series, including The Marauders Map, The Daily Prophet, and all the text books. She and Holly also discuss MinaLima’s work on interactive classics for HarperCollins.
Spine Podcast, Season 3, Episode 3: Sarahmay Wilkinson
For this episode Holly Dunn interviews Sarahmay Wilkinson, Associate Art Director at W. W. Norton. They discuss some of Wilkinson's book cover designs, including the fascinating backstory to her design of Edna O’Brien’s The Country Girls. Also talked about is Wilkinson's journey into publishing after having first established herself as a designer in the beauty industry.
Spine Podcast, Season 3, Episode 2: Lauren Panepinto
For this episode Holly Dunn interviews Creative Director/VP for Orbit Books, Lauren Panepinto. They discuss how she came to be at Orbit, artist collaboration, and cover design for science fiction/fantasy books. You can view more of Panepinto's work at www.laurenpanepinto.com.
Spine Podcast, Season 3, Episode 1: Kristen Radtke
For this first episode of Season 3 of our podcast Holly Dunn interviews cover designer, graphic novelist, and Art Director, Kristen Radtke. The conversation includes Radtke’s process on design, writing Imagine Wanting Only This, and how she works with other artists for The Believer Magazine.
Spine Podcast, Season 2, Episode 3: Marcie Lawrence
For this episode Holly Dunn talks to Marcie Lawrence, Senior Designer for Little, Brown and Company. Lawrence creates covers primarily for middle-grade and young adult titles. Topics covered include marketing to young people, how to design for books with difficult topics, ad the vices and virtues of pintrest.
Spine Podcast, Season 2, Episode 2: Designers at HarperCollins
Holly Dunn speaks with a team of designers from HarperCollins, including Jessie Gang, David Curtis, Alison Klapthor & Erin Fitzsimmons. They discuss individual projects developed for HarperCollins, as well as how they work together as a team.
Spine Podcast, Season 2, Episode 1: Coralie Bickford-Smith
In this episode Holly Dunn interviews designer / author / illustrator and all-around brilliant creative, Coralie Bickford-Smith. Topics discussed include Coralie's breaking into the publishing industry, the creation of a few of her covers, and how she came to write and illustrate The Fox And The Star, and The Worm And The Bird.
Spine Podcast, Episode 6: Alissa Dinallo
For the final episode of Spine Season 1 we speak with Australian Book Cover Designer, Alissa Dinallo. Alissa has won many design awards including The Australian Book Design Association (ABDA) Award for Young Designer of the Year in 2015. Alissa discusses with us the catalog she created for ABDA, her illustration technique, and her lifelong love for William Morris.
Spine Podcast, Episode 5: She Designs Books
In this episode we interview Nicole Caputo and Anne Twomey, Co-Founders of She Designs Books, a celebration of female talent in the world of book design. Whatever your gender, whether you are brand new to publishing or have been in the industry for years, you are certain to enjoy this interview.
Spine Podcast, Episode 4: Jo Thomson
In this episode we interview Jo Thomson, a freelance book cover designer who previously worked in-house at Pan Macmillan. Thomson is the recipient of a British Book Design & Production Award for Best Jacket for Not Working, by Lisa Owens. She also earned and ABCD Award for her cover design of Haus Frau, by Jill Alexander Essbaum.
Spine Podcast, Episode 2: Anne Jordan & Mitch Goldstein
For this episode we talk to Anne Jordan and Mitch Goldstein, cover designers for such titles as Humankind by Timothy Morton and Because of the Sun by Jenny Torres Sanchez. The couple are also responsible for many incredible book covers for academic publishers. Their award winning designs have been highlighted by AIGA and Design Observer, as well as Print Magazine.
Introducing Spine Podcast, Episode 1: Kimberly Glyder
Welcome to Season 1 of Spine podcast. For our first episode we talk to book cover designer Kimberly Glyder, creator of covers for notable titles such as Fen, The Wonder, and a new edition for Gone with the Wind. Over her career she has received recognition from AIGA, Type Directors Club, AAUP Book Jacket and Journal Show, New England Book Show, New York Book Show, and PRINT’s Regional Design Annual.
Interview with Designer Leo Nickolls
Leo Nickolls a freelance book cover designer and illustrator with extraordinary talents. Some of his work includes covers for Joanna Nadin's & Anthony McGowan's Everybody Hurts, Chris Womersley's City Of Crows, Allegra Goodman's The Chalk Artist, and the recent 40th Anniversary Edition of Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia. Holly Dunn caught up with him at his studio for Spine.
Interview with Suzanne Dean (Video)
Suzanne Dean is the Creative Director at Vintage Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK. She is one of the world's leading book cover designers and is the creative vision behind designs such as The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes and the UK editions of the works of Haruki Murakami, among many others. Holly Dunn caught up with her at her Penguin Random House office in London for Spine.