shelved books

50/50

2011-11-30T09:47:00.000-05:00

Hope to see everyone there!

Come check out this year's selected covers & books

Wednesday, December 7
6:00–8:00 p.m.
AIGA National Design Center
164 Fifth Avenue (between 21st and 22nd Streets)
New York, NY 10010

The Color of Night

2011-10-19T14:53:00.013-04:00

From Booklist:

“In this sharp blade of a novel, every word is weaponized as Bell stands at the portal to chthonic evil.”

This is a violent, disturbing, and engrossing novel, recalling the savagery of the Manson era. My self imposed direction was to display violence without being too graphic.

Early on in the story, the main character comes upon a dead fawn, and then makes the hide into a fawnskin to wear. For the first comp and the only one not showing a woman, I wanted to show the fawn and the juxtaposition of innocence and brutality.

Many of my other covers do show a 60s stylized version of women, appropriate to the era in which this novel takes place. Knives play a large role in the story, so I've incorporated them throughout.

A slash to evoke violence.

Probably the most literal depiction of the story, and one that was deemed too over the top.

Early on many of the comps use slashes I created on the computer.

Later, I was encouraged to try cutting the photos of women for a more unsettling effect. My studio looked very, very disturbing.

All credit to my art director, John Gall, for pushing this comp to what I think is it's best outcome. I scanned the final image (with slashes) and did quite a bit of Photoshop work to get the slash marks to be realistic, creating more depth and contrast. The final cover:

NEW, NEW

2011-06-23T12:59:00.009-04:00

A quick post to introduce my new design portfolio site: www.kimberlyglyder.com

Take a look!

Judging 50/50

2011-06-13T09:43:00.006-04:00

At my first job out of RISD I used to take out the AIGA annuals on my lunch break and read each one cover to cover. The most intriguing part of the annual, hands down, was always the 50 books/50 covers section and most definitely was an inspiration to start my own book design career. I would see the same names over and over, and I developed a fair amount of hero worship for these book designers.

Fast forward many years. Last month I was at AIGA’s New York office judging the 50 books / 50 covers show. This was not only meaningful to me as a designer, but also because the show itself had been cancelled, then reopened. There has already been much said on the subject—good and bad—so I will forego that debate and highlight instead that there were a decent amount of entries this year. The number was slightly down from the prior year, but in comparison to the total amount entered into the 365 competion, it was a good showing and, in my humble opinion, definitely worth the time, money, and energy for AIGA to continue the legacy of this competition.

AIGA’s Gabriela Mirensky was our coordinator for the judging and the overall process went very smoothly with Chip Kidd as our chair (whose insistence on including 50 of each category I’m happy to report was fulfilled). Joseph Sullivan from the Book Design Review blog and designers Arthur Cherry and Barbara Glauber rounded out the jury and it was a pleasure spending two days with such talented people discussing book design. As Peter Mendelsund noted last year, the criteria for which pieces were selected had more to do with the need for consensus among all 5 judges rather than the any lack of quality among those pieces which were not selected. It was a rare treat to see the work of so many designers I admire all in one room, receiving the recognition each book designer deserves, but only a handful can receive each year.

Finally, I will say that in my mind, the 50/50 competition advances the work of all book designers and gives us a means of showcasing the talent in this field. Yes, we are constantly updating our blogs, twitter, facebook, etc. to get an immediate reaction to our work, but having a large selection at once across all subject matters and all design styles and documented is a good thing.

We are definitely up against many challenges in the coming years regarding the value of our profession. I’m happy there is a place where book designers are celebrated. I’m also hopeful that the annuals and now, the Design Archive, will provide other designers a place to find inspiration (though I’ll go ahead and note here that I miss the printed design annuals for which I don’t think there is a numerical way of evaluating how many times we open and close those pages as opposed to a website). Thanks to everyone who entered and hopefully the entries will increase next year.

Will Write for Food

2011-05-13T19:08:00.005-04:00

I've noticed a sharp increase in covers with plates on them. I myself have two in the last couple of years and for the same publisher no less. Here is one of them...

Will Write for Food focuses on the art of food writing. When I received the brief to work on the paperback edition, my first thought was to go a bit more conceptual and playful since the title has a lightheartedness to it. The hardcover was effective, but it showcased the requisite plate which I was hoping to avoid for the paperback.

My first round of comps have more of an illustrative styling to them. Graphic & bold, with a little humor thrown in:

At first the comps were fairly well received. The top comp was the chosen one to revise and pursue. Overall the vector illustration wasn't quite working for people in-house though and maybe it was too busy? However, I was told they liked that the cover looked like a guidebook, but still had an elegant feel to it.

After revising the comp multiple times by incorporating actual photos of the fork and pencil, this cover comp was finally discarded.

So, we began a new round of comps where the direction was more straightforward: not so much about the writing, but all about the food, and elegant food at that, appealing to a general audience of foodies.

Taking this direction, here are two comps that came out of this round:

From this round, the final was chosen. Yes, a plate, but what a great vehicle for holding the type. The plate works every time...

Out of the Vinyl Deeps

2011-04-29T10:50:00.003-04:00

At 14 I bought my first record player. It wasn't a good one, but somehow all my lo-fi records sounded perfect at that age. Some years later (ahem), getting to design with vinyl on a book cover is one of those jobs where you can't quite believe your luck.

Here is a brief description from my art director, Rachel Moeller:

A collection of rock criticism of Ellen Willis, a feminist cultural critic famous in the 60s and 70s. While the cover can definitely evoke the era, we'd like it to appeal to a mainstream audience that loves rock and appreciates that vinyl culture is alive and well today.

To update the look, I chose bright colors to even out the "vintage" subject matter. The first comp uses repetitive records to create a pattern, while the inset blue pen mimics the record needle, a nod to Ellen Willis.

The second comp, and the one that went to press is a bit more straightforward, showing a photo of a record and the colorful spines of the record covers. The type followed the form of the photo.

A highlight of this cover was setting the quotes on the back. Hey, wasn't I just 14 at a Bikini Kill show...?

AIGA PDA

2011-03-29T16:55:00.004-04:00

Happy to hear the following covers made it into the AIGA Philadelphia Design Awards. Work is from the past two years. Looking forward to the show in June!

50/50

2011-03-03T09:17:00.003-05:00

If you appreciate excellent book design, please consider signing this petition to save AIGA's 50 books/50 covers:

http://save5050.com/petition.html

To see 2009's inspiring work, check out this link:

http://designarchives.aiga.org/#/entries/%2Bcollections%3A%2250%20Books%2F50%20Covers%20of%202009%22/_/grid/relevance/asc/0/48/90

Dead Neon

2011-02-06T14:11:00.008-05:00

It's always refreshing to get a title that breaks the mold of the typical genre of books I get. Dead Neon is a subject matter I rarely work on, science fiction writing. I was hooked with the first story and read the entire manuscript before sketching. The first concept that came to mind was a gas mask since many of the stories have an apocalyptic bent. The idea was to create the image out of Las Vegas icons. So I set out about the tedious task using poker chips, dice, playing cards and of course, the iconic Las Vegas sign.

Once I had this comp done I hit a wall. I had no idea where to go next since this one felt so spot on, but of course, 3 comps is what you have to submit so I wracked my brain searching for more concepts. Las Vegas burning, Las Vegas sinking, Las Vegas desolate and deserted...check:

I used a mix of vintage imagery, clip art and stock photos to create the collages used on these two comps. I had a fun time working up these pieces of art for the comps. Kind of an industrial/human merging perspective of the future:

The final design is shown below. Glad to see my first idea was my best. Thanks to Kathleen Szawiola, my art director at University of Nevada Press, who delivered my fastest approval ever in a mere 8 hours (including author approval).

If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This

2010-09-17T10:24:00.010-04:00

Many times I receive a manuscript, read it through and just hope I can do the writing justice with a cover design. This is the case with Robin Black's beautiful If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This. As with all short story collections, the difficulty lies in finding imagery that can represent the tone of all the stories.

From the Random House website:

"Brilliant, hopeful, and fearlessly honest, If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This illuminates the truths of human relationships, truths we come to recognize in these characters and in ourselves."

--------

The title story is where I originally began. It centers on a woman who is dying of cancer addressing her neighbour, who wants to erect a fence that blocks her driveway. The fence became a visual icon for me in the first round of comps:

The second set of imagery I used was paint strokes, inspired by the story, Immortalizing John Parker. The main character, who is a painter, reflects on her own life while painting a portrait of an aging Alzheimer's patient.

The painterly feel of the comps was what I was asked to concentrate on and from there a series of painted comps was submitted for review. First warm, then cooler colors...

Towards the end, the focus shifted back to an earlier comp with the 9 paint strokes. From there, we adjusted the background color and the final jacket was complete. Seen below is the front cover, spine and back:

A small aside: Initially I used 9 paint strokes because the manuscript I received over a year ago had 9 stories. It wasn't until I showed up for Robin's book reading at Bryn Mawr College that I realized the book had 10 stories.

Connected

2010-07-23T09:50:00.006-04:00

hello there, apologies for the gap in posting.

First post up for the summer is Connected. This book came to me from Julianna Lee at Little Brown. A interesting project since I already owned the hardcover, bought in part because of how much I liked the hc jacket (designed by Julianna). The direction was to take an entirely different approach than the jacket....maybe something closer to this cover I did many years ago.

Here is a quick summary from Amazon:

Scientists Christakis and Fowler present compelling evidence for our profound influence on one another's tastes, health, wealth, happiness, beliefs, even weight, as they explain how social networks form and how they operate.

My first idea was to form the letters out of groups of people. I spent an inordinate amount of time placing these silhouettes. This was a favorite concept on my part, but was deemed too difficult to read because of the title not reading as one word.

On this comp, I graphically connected the letters and layered them over a crowd of people:

The final cover is a literal interpretation, but bold & iconic. Small figures with an overlying grid showing the multiple connections. Printed a bright orange with the gray printing metallic. A fun project to work on...

50/50

2010-06-18T09:27:00.002-04:00

Congrats to all the winners, a very beautiful selection this year:

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/5050-recent

Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto

2010-04-30T09:54:00.010-04:00

About a year ago I began a cover project for Graywolf Press called Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto. I was immediately struck by the title. The book has just printed (final cover at the end). Here is a summary of the novel from Amazon:

In a remote, piney wood in Finland stands a convalescent hospital called Suvanto, a curving concrete example of austere Scandinavian design. It is the 1920s, and the patients, all women, seek relief from a variety of ailments real and imagined. On the lower floors are the stoic local Finnish women; on the upper floors are foreign women of privilege—the “up-patients.” They are tended to by the head nurse, Sunny Taylor, an American who has escaped an ill-starred life only to retreat behind a mask of crisp professionalism.

Summer turns to fall, and fall to a long, dark winter. The patients begin to hear rumors about the changes being implemented at Suvanto by an American obstetrician, Dr. Peter Weber, who is experimenting with a new surgical stitch. Their familiar routine threatened, the women are not happy (they were not happy before), and the story’s escalating menace builds to a terrifying conclusion.

At the beginning of the project my art director at Graywolf gave me several good bits of info to lead me along in my design process: The hospital building and it’s nod to the gothic, austere beauty, seductive darkness, the body and its meat-like reality and the feel of a greek tragedy. All strong elements to work with.

The main element that stood out to me was the body and the surgical stitch used in the story. These factor strongly into my design directions. I also was struck by the title...sounded like writing from a formal invitation. I make reference to this with the panel holding the type. The bright red line is meant to evoke stitching lines:

Stitches & the human body (with it's meat-like quality):

The body sectioned using a woman from the 1920s era and the sewing stitch again:

The nurse portrayed in an austere illustration style:

Revisions came back from this first round and I reworked the comps a bit. On this revised comp a small splattering of blood was added to the "invitation" as well as a new image of the hospital.

A (menacing) hospital bed, with the stitched type on top:

It became clear that the stitched type was liked, but I wasn't happy with the computer generated look on the older comps. I redrew all the stitching by hand for the next round to give it a more organic feel:

The author had an image in mind throughout the process that I hadn't used early on, but was brought back into the later rounds of revisions. The photograph by Elina Brotherus seemed to capture the mood the author was after. I then paired the stitched type over the photo (with the consent of the photographer) and our final cover was ready:

The printed cover with a spot gloss on the title:

The Bluesiana Snake Festival

2010-03-22T10:38:00.011-04:00

Every time a title from Counterpoint lands on my desk, I know I'm in for a creative challenge. Their authors are innovative voices in publishing and on my end, it makes for interesting subject matter to work with. Such is the case with The Bluesiana Snake Festival. Here is a short description via Amazon:

"Through a blend of voices — Big Jim Bullshit, Shushubaby, and Brooklyn Bob, to name a few — the musical voice of New Orleans is revealed in its varied dialects, grooves reminiscent of ragtime, jazz, and blues. The result is a look into who these folks are, their ways and beliefs, their senses of truth, and of existence itself. A novel about the joy and beauty of life in the depths, the momentum and narrative heart isn’t driven by a plot — it’s about the trance."

Originally I was asked to consider a piece of artwork, but I felt like it was limiting in it's appeal. Thankfully the publisher and editor were supportive and allowed me free reign to try other directions. After reading the first line of the manuscript it was clear to me the writing was lyrical and rhythmic. Instead of opting to show a straightforward shot of New Orleans, I instead used imagery of a snake which has a mysterious and fluid quality to it.

Comp 1 which has a flat, graphic look:

Comp 2: uses wood distressing and a snake in place of the "S"

And the final approved design using the snake, moon & even a broom representing the street sweepers. I layered the snakes to create the background pattern. Gray prints metallic:

The final paperback mechanical:

An interview

2010-03-10T19:35:00.005-05:00

There is an interview with yours truly up at the Covered Up blog. I'm in some pretty great company with the past book designers interviewed. Take a look.

An update

2010-02-26T18:19:00.005-05:00

Busy season so far. With most publishers finally wrapping up catalogs I can share some new covers. Next post will be on The Bluesiana Snake Festival since it just went to press!

Science Fiction, gas mask made out of poker chips, cards, dice & Las Vegas sign

Novel, hand lettered & illustrated

Novel

Non-fiction, B&W line drawings illustrated by Candace Sepulis

Poetry

The Blue Orchard

2010-01-23T14:06:00.007-05:00

Sometimes you work on a cover, it gets approved, you're waiting for the email/call to get started on the mechanical and boom....the cover is killed. Why? Well, doesn't matter. Some internal conflict has rendered your cover a no go.

Case in point: a novel, The Blue Orchard.

Summary: On the eve of the Great Depression, Verna Krone, the child of Irish immigrants, must leave the eighth grade and begin working as a maid to help support her family. Her employer takes inappropriate liberties, and as Verna matures, it seems as if each man she meets is worse than the last. Through sheer force of will and a few chance encounters, she manages to teach herself to read and becomes a nurse. But Verna’s new life falls to pieces when she is arrested for assisting a black doctor with “illegal surgeries.” As the media firestorm rages, Verna reflects on her life while awaiting trial.

I was told to make this one "beautiful." Even heavy subject matter requires a pretty cover...

Here are the three comps submitted.

The comp below uses a vintage fruit crate label from my collection. The peach is meant to overwhelm the cover (and the main character, Verna). The numbered lines in the back reference the ledger she keeps of all the patients in the doctor's practice:

Again, I used (more of) the vintage art in a new composition, this time paired with an image of a maid. Verna originally worked as a maid before becoming a nurse.

For the third comp, I mocked up the front & back. Using a vintage illustration of a woman from a stock house as reference, I redrew/recolored the figure to represent Verna. On the front cover I have her dressed as a maid, and on the back as a nurse, each time holding the peaches which are a symbolic of her family orchard.

The top comp above was chosen. A few months later the cover was killed. Too bad, I liked this one...

The First and Final Nightmare of Sonia Reich

2010-01-07T09:58:00.009-05:00

A few years ago I worked on this title for PublicAffairs. This is an incredible story written by Sonia's son. From Booklist:

Reich's Jewish mother lived in the town of Dubno, Poland, as a child. In 1941, when she was 11, she began a four-year journey of running and hiding from the Nazis, coming to the U.S. when she was 16. She worked in candy and clothing factories in Chicago and met the author's father, a survivor of a death march to Buchenwald, on a blind date. On February 15, 2001, when she was living in Skokie, Illinois, she packed some clothes in two shopping bags and fled, believing that someone was trying to kill her, "to put a bullet in my head." She was diagnosed as having late-onset post-traumatic stress disorder, was admitted to a psychiatric ward, and then to an assisted-living facility.

From the author:
"In the midst of my mother's stunning soliloquy of rage and delusion, of anger and fear and accusation," Reich writes, "I finally, belatedly, incredibly realized that this was all about the war, and what awful things must have happened to my mother when she was a child, pursued because she was a Jew."

This was obviously a very moving, disturbing story. The author provided a wealth of photographs of Sonia, though at first we weren't sure if we would use them.

From the first comps (which used a different title at the time) I was taken with the idea of ghosts from the past coming back to haunt Sonia. For this comp, I used a chair with the ghostly image of Sonia as a child overlaying it.

I also created an all type version:

With a title change (so that it wouldn't be put in the Holocaust memoir section), we also changed directions. This time we went with a film reel, the idea of images replaying over and over in Sonia's mind:

From there, the direction was to go back to something more thoughtful, so I merged these photos to create a woman (not Sonia) in front of a window. Still using that ghostly effect:

In the end we did some photo layering again, but this time with Sonia as an adult over a desolate, beautiful landscape image:

I had liked above how the type worked with the image, out of focus and moving, but I was asked to go back to a more straightforward treatment. Final is below:

happy holidays

2009-12-15T21:13:00.007-05:00

A final wrap up here on Shelved Books for 2009. And a big thank you. It's been a interesting experiment showing my design process. Thanks to all who have commented over the past year. Your feedback has been insightful and very kind. I hope to have more regular posting on my own shelved books as well as highlighting featured designers in the new Noted section beginning in 2010.

Shelved Books was a long time coming. It wasn't until I saw killed work popping up on designers websites and places like design:related, that I began to think it would be appropriate to share this process. My aim here hasn't been to only show the work I think is more beautiful, because as you've seen on this site, sometimes what's been left behind was done so for a very good reason....the final was just better. You might think that on a site dedicated to rejected covers I might be against the revision process, but contrary to all evidence, I actually think that the process works well on many books. Case in point, a recent cover I consider one of my favorites to date, was the product of a revision. Not just a tweak, but a complete rethink. I had to delve deeper into the subject matter and the final design was the better for it. I would add to that, there is no substitution for a good relationship with an art director. Good feedback and help during the process is what makes the best covers as well.

Below are pics of my recent holiday mailing. In an age where computers are a designers best friend, online community networks allow me to chat with design colleagues all over the map, and the end-of-print looms above us all...my ideas still begin in a sketchbook, and I hope it always remains that way.

happy holidays!
Kimberly

My nod to books: the side view of an open book in the zeros...

Controversies in Globalization

2009-12-04T10:33:00.004-05:00

As book designers, we're in the unique position of working on a wide array of topics in fiction and non fiction. I've also always kept a pretty diverse client list from very, very small to large trade publishers. After all, it's the small publishers that gave me my start.

About a year ago I worked on a title for CQ Press, a politics publisher in Washington, DC that publishes academic and reference books. The title I did for them, Controversies in Globalization, is a textbook (not my normal fare). It features 15 pairs of scholars and practitioners that directly address current questions in International Relations through brief "yes" and "no" pieces.

I knew that a contrast needed to be shown on the cover as this is a debate style book. The market is very different for textbooks. Mostly professors choose the books for their courses and are very familiar with competitive titles....a reason to produce a cover that is unique.

My first thought, of course, was a globe. As cliche as it seems, it did appear to be a necessary part of the book's content. So how to show it in a way that isn't completely obvious? These are my solutions...I showed 3 comps and the last one was chosen:

A red dividing line between the pieced globe suggests the contrast:

The final, which evokes a globe by the lines inside the circle, but also uses the speaking bubble. Black and white is the ultimate contrast:

The Atlantic Century

2009-11-12T23:15:00.008-05:00

After designing a long run of fiction, it's great to pick up a non-fiction title. Here is a jacket I did recently for Georgia Feldman at Da Capo Press. I've worked with Georgia many years now, first at W. W. Norton and now at Da Capo. A small aside: Georgia gave me my first fiction cover years ago after coming from Da Capo where I designed only non fiction titles. So, life really is full circle.

Book description: Weisbrode's central argument is that “Atlanticism” came to be as much from personalities as it did from the pressure of external events. Over the past one hundred years, our awkward and tentative European network was carefully constructed by a network of allies, friends, and supporters who imagined, built, and sustained a new international system in which America and Europe were part of a single transatlantic community of nations rather than rivals or one another’s periodic savior.

The art direction stated to have something epic, drawing attention to the key moments in history & the idea of building a bridge between the US and Europe.

Here is my first round.

The seal is from the actual NATO signing documents:

A cover with no historical image, the pen symbolic of diplomacy:

And a contrast between modern day and historical imagery:

All of these were deemed too academic and minor looking (ouch), so I was asked to revise. It became apparent that the book needed more of a "big book" look. I have to say, in the case of this cover, the revision really did end up being the best solution in my mind. It's also a situation where the jacket actually printed exactly as I had imagined it. As someone who doesn't work in-house and has little control over the production of jackets anymore, it's amazing how rare it is to be able to say this!

Gray printed as silver metallic

Ecco Wine Guide

2009-10-30T11:29:00.011-04:00

A couple years ago I worked on a cover for Ecco called The Ecco Guide to the Best Wines of Italy. The original direction was to make a label for a wine bottle that held all the type (an idea generated in-house that was a pretty firm concept), and then print the label and place it on a bottle. Here is a mock up of the original comp in that vain.

To the credit of my art director, Allison Saltzman, I was told to try other solutions as well if I was so inclined. So below are a few other comps I submitted. These show more of an illustrative approach with the bottles & labels:

There are many wine guides in the market using wine stains and wine labels, but I could not find many that had a hand made element. For another approach, I painted small bottles not really knowing how I would use them at first. Watercolor paint seemed like a good fit since since it could evoke the wine-stained look without the cliche. I painted the bottles in different shades to cover all the wine varieties included in the book. In the end, with a revised title, stacking the painted bottles to contain the type turned out to be an effective solution.

Noted

2009-10-15T10:25:00.023-04:00

My first entry on notable women book cover designers. All of these designers are certainly not new, but worth mentioning again. I'm pleased to see that when choosing these covers, none of them are what could be labeled as overtly "feminine." Ironically, a few of these standout designs (sourced from design:related) are unused comps. A nice addition to this site...

First up, Alison Forner, who works with the mighty talented Allison Saltzman at Ecco. I've been really impressed with Alison's work. This one stood out to me for the combo of hand drawn elements and beautiful typography. The scale of the type is really effective and the "celebrating" copy is deftly handled (no burst here...). An unused comp...too bad for all of us.

Jen Wang has received a lot of attention for her illustrative Penguin covers which can be found at her design:related portfolio. What I like best about this cover is what it doesn't have...a photo. Besides, who doesn't love a type only cover? The type is the image and that's enough.

Having worked on quite a few university press titles, I can tell you it's tough going sometimes. So often you're faced with an obscure subject matter. This cover by Natalie Smith is a beauty. A smart, unexpected solution and elegantly handled. Plus, the use of color is wonderful and truly evocative of place.

I love black and white covers and essentially this is one. Designed by Jaya Miceli, this unused comp pairs an organic line drawing with stark typography--a beautiful contrast. To reinforce the variety of Jaya's work, check out the final printed cover she designed.

The simple line drawing of an envelope brings this unused comp by Jennifer Heuer to a whole new level. I love how the overlaying lines contrast & ultimately balance the retro type styling. A very smart solution to a book of letters, sidestepping the all too familiar use of an actual envelope.

These are just a few of many talented designers. I'll continue to post a monthly feature and will have other posts on Noted work. Oh, and go hire all of them quick.

Demolition Writers

2009-09-30T23:25:00.014-04:00

A first for Shelved Books, I'm showing my hardcover and paperback designs for the same title...one makes it...and one doesn't.

A few years back I worked on a cover for Random House called The Secret Society of Demolition Writers. Here is the summary from Amazon:

"In the spirit of the demolition derby, where drivers take heedless risks with reckless abandon, welcome to the first convocation of the Secret Society of Demolition Writers. Here is a one-of-a-kind collection by famous authors writing anonymously–and dangerously. With the usual concerns about reputations and renown cast aside, these twelve daredevils have each contributed an extreme, no-holds-barred unsigned story, each shining as brightly and urgently as hazard lights."

The hardcover jacket I designed is above. The process went relatively smoothly. When the paperback came up, my art director asked me to revisit the original comps and work with them since there might be something there. Originally, I had gone the route of demolition cars. I loved the idea of featuring one on a cover and so along those lines came up with these comps (some trim changes are shown). The subtitle needed to be very prominent:

Playing off the bursts I used, the designs were streamlined so that the type became the focus, (and losing the car reference):

These bold colored variations went through several rounds (really...a lot) before we added in the hand drawn bursts:

This is where it was approved, but alas, the paperback never went to press, so this cover was officially shelved.

HOW Top Ten Sites

2009-09-30T09:45:00.009-04:00

This month How magazine has named Shelved Books as one of their Top Ten Sites. Check out the other listings:

http://www.howdesign.com/top10sitesfordesigners

ALSO: To see the complete listing of Top Ten's (including Zach from below) go here:
http://blog.howdesign.com/CategoryView,category,Top%2010%20Websites%20For%20Designers.aspx

Radiant Days

2009-09-14T14:55:00.006-04:00

A book for Shoemaker & Hoard from several years ago.

A good quote:

"Radiant Days is the darkly funny and deeply unsettling story of a young man who falls down a Central European rabbit hole. It made me squirm, and I loved it." -- Vestal McIntyre, author of You Are Not The One

And a (tiny) summary:
Moving from the tattered romanticism of Budapest, through the sparkling Dalmatian coast, and into the brutalized landscape of inland Croatia during the last days of the Balkan War, the novel takes a shocking turn of irreversible consequence.

Interesting how uncomfortable the writing was...well written, but uncomfortable human behavior. "Young" and "disturbing" are other words I would use to describe the tone of the book.

For the first round I used imagery of a European car (the one the main character travels in) on the cover. It seems liked a good metaphor for the journey taken. Also, rays, of course:

I guess I keep trying for that wine bottle to work:

My favorite:

After this round the publisher found an image he wanted me to try. It's almost difficult when you have such a great image to get out of the way and give it it's due:

Alex Camlin at Casual Optimist

2009-09-08T10:47:00.008-04:00

nice interview with Alex up at Casual Optimist:

http://www.casualoptimist.com/?p=2278

Alex gave me my start in cover design at Da Capo & Perseus Books (despite having no experience with books and a bad faux pas on my job application...thanks Alex). While at Da Capo, I would walk into his office and be pretty blown over by his use of type and general design skills. Glad to see he is getting the recognition he deserves...

Some covers that were shelved...in a good way

2009-08-28T07:36:00.008-04:00

Some of my covers do get approved and I thought I would share a recent update of work. New covers are found on my designrelated portfolio page, but here are a couple favorites that just wrapped up:

http://tiny.cc/xG7s0

http://tiny.cc/jl9Kl

So I'm overdue to post...

2009-08-26T19:24:00.012-04:00

Sorry, I've been knee deep in cover work and well, let's just say some of it will be appearing here in the next few months.

For my next shelved book, Torah Queeries for NYU Press. My very kind Art Director tried his best to get these through, but in the end sometimes a conceptual cover is not what is wanted or I supposed needed. I'd like to think otherwise, but having an editor for a husband, I understand the rationale.

From Amazon: "This incredibly rich collection unites the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight-allied writers, including some of the most central figures in contemporary American Judaism. All bring to the table unique methods of reading and interpreting that allow the Torah to speak to modern concerns of sexuality, identity, gender, and LGBT life."

I have to admit, I struggled with this one for a while until the idea of the pink triangle forming a Jewish Star came to me. Once it did, I wondered what took me so long.

However, in the end the feedback was that the pink triangle was too much of a reminder of the Holocaust (the patches worn by Jews on clothing). I never thought of this interpretation myself, instead only thinking of the gay pride icon and also thinking that paired with the "queeries" in the title the connection made sense. It's a good reminder to consider all meanings in your designs. The final cover (which I did not design) is on Amazon.

The Nightingales of Troy

2009-08-12T12:17:00.004-04:00

I give all the credit to my art director, Eleen Cheung at W.W. Norton for guiding this jacket along and getting it printed. Even at the end we were making adjustments and Eleen had an endless amount of patience with me and the author (and everyone else) to make this happen.

The book is comprised of ten linked short stories which track the lives of four generations of women from Troy, N.Y., "where love comes to die." The first story begins in 1908, and subsequent stories are spaced approximately a decade apart. Because there are so many stories it seemed important to NOT show everything and give more of a feel of the lush & complex stories.

There is quite a bit of rich detail in the writing to draw upon. For imagery, I chose to focus on women representing the 20s time period where the name of the novel is taken from the corresponding story. I hinted at some of these concepts in the early comps, such as the Madonna/saint since there are many spiritual overtones throughout.

A nun grows poppies (opium) in one story:

After this round, the author suggested she would like to see Troy featured. This photo (I thought) had a nice balance between mysterious & beautiful...

Then it was suggested to try synchronized swimmers since they appear in the book in one of the stories: I was skeptical...but I did like the symmetry of the photograph.

In one of the above rounds I sent this comp. It didn't go over at the time, but elements of the design appear in the final (modern-day Troy at the bottom):

This comp was submitted later in the process...

After this concept was chosen, I then took vintage images (or made images vintage looking) relating to the individual stories and made them into small icons. The only catch was that the author wanted icons for every story. Originally I was told to try and fit all the icons on the front cover, but after some discussion we were finally able to get some pushed to the back cover (7 on front, 3 on back). The final design:

The final jacket was a selection in the Philadelphia AIGA design awards this year (the PDAs).

try harder

2009-07-23T09:25:00.005-04:00

This has made the rounds quite a bit, but since people keep weighing in I thought I would post the link:

http://www.designrelated.com/news/post_detail/8286/aigas-50-books50-covers-2008-selections-for-2009-show

The AIGA 50 books / 50 covers competition. The most prestigious competition for book covers in my opinion has been taking some heat over the last month with the announcement of only 41 covers that made the cut. A lot of back and forth between designers and even AIGA weighing in, but in my opinion AIGA is really just trying to tell all of us:

try harder.

A little upsetting considering all of us try beyond 100%--not that that should make every design an award winner. I think my site is testament to the fact that much work & thought goes into a cover and sometimes once the designs are put through the ringer, you're lucky to get something you're proud of at the end. I would like to think AIGA is clued into what is happening in book publishing these days with the economy and the threat of e-books. Let's be honest, publishers, editors and sales are nervous and thus not taking as many chances on design...which makes it an even bigger feat when a great cover is published. Apparently they aren't aware that an organization dedicated to design, with the power to enhance the importance of book design, has just rendered themselves clueless. I think we all know, based on the work we see on other blogs, websites, and in stores, that there had to have been another 9 covers to make it a true "50." Most people weighing in have won the award in the past, so I don't think it's a matter of sore losers. Our field is relatively small and I like to think very supportive, so I see the comments over on design:related as positive for our field.

**I just want to note that unfortunately what's been lost in the discussion is the fact that 41 great covers were recognized by AIGA this year. I'm guilty of forgetting to mention it myself. Congratulations to all the designers who did win...it's a great selection and worth a visit to the AIGA site to check them out:
http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/5050-recent?orderBy=GalleryMedium&upDown=DESC

Sentimental Heartbroken Rednecks

2009-07-22T10:46:00.001-04:00

A cover from a few years ago for S&H, a book that combines autobiography, short fiction, and essay with tales of class, poverty, and violence set in the South.

The first one I used some hand drawn bits. My aim with the drawing was to (referencing the drinking and hallucinating, etc.) give the cover an organic feel, similar to the writing.

When this was deemed to "light" feeling, I sourced an image of a man that fit the author better (and coincidentally was told the photo looked just like him). I then paired the portrait with an unassuming image of the suburbs. I liked this juxtaposition and felt it hit the tone well.

Alas, in the end we went with a simple texture to evoke some sense of place. Feels like a dead end place...which ultimately fits the book as well.

Laboring on Railroads

2009-07-19T14:01:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the break in posting. Have been working on a mammoth book on Railroads. Now that the 550+ pages are wrapping up, I'll be back next week with a new shelved book cover.

(This jacket will be printed on metallic stock)

Shame in the Blood

2009-07-07T09:26:00.009-04:00

For Shoemaker & Hoard (now Counterpoint)

From Amazon: Told as six interlocked and layered stories, the novel builds and deepens as the particulars of everyday life provide a moving, beautiful testimony to the love and power of youth and commitment. The whole story is tinged with melancholic sadness often associated with Japanese literature, where the feeling of love itself is “a little death.”

The publisher originally asked that I use the Japanese prints on the cover. I did 2 comps using the prints, and one of my own, that was chosen. Somehow I didn't feel the prints told the story. Instead, I found the image of the woman and liked the “raw” quality of the photo. I paired it with a dahlia drawing which has a fragile look to it (dahlias are mentioned in the title story). The top portion of the cover uses red dots (blood) and the bottom portion uses white (snow). In general, I think the final comp shows a vulnerability which I sensed in the writing. The mechanical is below:

On Speed

2009-06-18T13:03:00.004-04:00

A cover for NYU Press that came out last year and was designed 2 years ago. Thought I would share a couple of the outtakes I came across recently. On Speed, which was pitched to me as a history book, examines amphetamine as a case study on the place drugs occupy in our culture and our fantasies. Sometimes old comps influence new ones (which I'll post soon). Interesting too how the second comp makes me think of Issac Tobin's Obsession looking at it now. No comparison...his cover is amazing (and just won 50 books/50 covers). However, tiny dots work well to mimic pills too.

Final cover, a graphic take....though technically I'm not sure my pills are completely accurate.

Two Years No Rain

2009-06-08T09:46:00.011-04:00

For Random House, this is the second novel I've worked on for Shawn Klomparens (I'll post the other soon). The story revolves around a weatherman in California. As suggested by the title, it hasn't rained for 580 days. For a time, the main character writes and acts for a children's show. He also rides a magic carpet...

I also tried a graphic approach and was pleased they chose this as the final cover. There are many references to meteorology in the book, so I began researching barometers and found various symbols for weather conditions. I altered the symbols below to create the illustration. While there are dark moments to the story, I found many moments of humor and I think the graphic approach here balances those contrasting moods.

Ferris Beach

2009-06-04T13:42:00.006-04:00

From Anne Winslow at Algonquin Books, Ferris Beach is a coming-of-age story. The book, which publishes in September, just went to press. The main direction was to create a cover that works for the adult and YA markets. Also, the editor specifically wanted a hippie feel to the design. With those ideas in mind, this is what I came up with...

First off, I kept having the image of a young girl's writing. Like doodles in a notebook, I sat down and painted with watercolors all the type for the cover. The resulting type, showing brush strokes and all, felt warm and young. I added in the daisies which gave a seventies feel and made me think of the main character sitting around in her bell bottoms making daisy chains for her hair.

I added a watercolor wash to the back of this photo.

A retro pattern.

This is the cover they chose initially. Turns out another cover for a book by the same author being published by Algonquin (which they hadn't shown me initially and which wasn't yet on Amazon) used all handwritten type. They asked me to take out the photo so both jackets appeared more similar.

The final cover:

Moveable Feasts

2009-05-19T10:56:00.016-04:00

No, not the classic Hemingway book, but a book about the ways food travels from one place to another. From Amazon: Moveable Feasts takes a novel look at the economics, logistics, and environmental impact of food, and brings new perspective to debates about where we get our meals.

Henry from Picador sent this to me with the direction to incorporate more of the “travel” element into the cover somehow. Since many of the chapters deal with systems and technologies throughout the centuries, I thought using historic elements such as vintage illustrations and ornaments was appropriate. One of the chapters deals with Salmon being imported from China. On the first comp, I manipulated a couple illustrations to create the fish on the ship. A little humorous and ironic.

The second comp is more straightforward, a contrast of where the fruit began and where it ended up.

The salmon again, this time he's moving upstream with all the port stickers as evidence of his travels.

And the final. Henry said it has a bit of a Schott's Miscellany vibe to it, which I see after he pointed it out. A literal depiction of the title:

As much as I am happy with the final, those fish on the ship still give me a laugh. Thanks for sending this to me Henry.

A History of Hurricanes

2009-05-05T18:32:00.005-04:00

A title for Northwestern University Press.

This small book of poems came to me last year. The title of course brings particular imagery to mind so I made reference to hurricanes in an understated way. As the author said about the cover: "I think it fits the book perfectly, capturing its essence yet extending its implications in provocative new directions." (Emails like this make me happy).

Coincidentally, this cover was the last one I worked on before the birth of my daughter, so it stands out in the flood of work that came right before I took off for a couple months. Happily, the final cover came out beautifully when printed.

PDA awards

2009-04-24T14:12:00.004-04:00

I was lucky enough to get several pieces in the first ever AIGA Philadelphia Design Awards this year. Sean Adams (Adams/ Morioka), Alice Chung (Omnivore), Rick Landesberg (Landesberg Design), Scott Stowell (Open) and Alice Twemlow were judges. Go vote for your favorite now:

http://www.aigapda2008.com

Thanks to Jonathan Sainsbury from Pantheon, Eleen Cheung from W.W. Norton, Counterpoint and JHUP for sending great projects my way!

Gender and Crime

2009-04-23T14:13:00.003-04:00

A serious subject matter for NYU Press. Just one alternate to show here...I thought the first one really brought "gender" into the cover concept, but instead they opted for a more straightforward approach.

Not sure the idea of a woman's figure translates to the final cover as an immediate association.

Classical Music

2009-04-16T11:53:00.006-04:00

Here's an oldie, but goodie for Penguin. I of course tried a couple directions showing tons of instruments (that was fun sourcing), but I was quite happy that the final featured just the conductor's hands. Simple, but effective. I also used those "hot" colors I like. Georgia first mentioned that term and I realize I use these colors a lot...if only they would get approved more often.

Look at that spine...doesn't every book cover designer love a spine they can really work with? Ah, ornaments.

Human Oddities

2009-04-10T09:37:00.006-04:00

Digging in the archives just now, I came across this title from Shoemaker & Hoard (now merged into Counterpoint). This book was ripe with imagery. From Amazon: These nine stories hinge on the damaged contemporary body;battered, conjoined, disfigured by plastic surgery, abandoned, intoxicated, in drag or rendered uninhabitable by obesity, desire or deformity. With freak-show imagery tempered by sympathy, Jablonski conjures outcast protagonists...

Sure, showing disfigured bodies is one thing, but how to do so in a way that is intriguing to a book buyer...and not too off-putting? Well, my first thought was dolls, because they can take on a pretty creepy feel with the right lighting. I also researched famous twins such as Chang and Eng Bunker and the Hilton Twins via the author's notes.

Here is the suggestion of cojoined twins using dolls:

Historical photos (the ornamentation on the first one is supposed to be bizarre and circus-like):

A close up of the body:

And the final using a doll. The close up of the face is disconcerting, the cut arm, and the type is slightly off:

Sex, Death & Oysters

2009-03-31T13:07:00.001-04:00

An unusual topic, couldn't pass this one up. For Counterpoint, this book chronicles a food writer's experiences with oysters, including history and recipes. The author, Robb Walsh has written many cookbooks on mostly Tex Mex food, so this is a departure.

One alternate comp here, a more refined take on the subject:

And the final design using spot art. I added the detail of oyster forks in the ornamental frame surrounding the subtitle :

a night with AIGA...

2009-03-27T19:05:00.009-04:00

The other night I attended an AIGA talk in Philly featuring Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich. It's not often that AIGA features a book cover designer so I was quite happy to go. Already very familiar with Roberto's work, I've long been a admirer, but had an especially good time seeing not only his new work, but also plenty of "shelved" comps...always interesting to see.

No one does type like Roberto. He has an intuitive sensibility about type as image. While some designers limit their typefaces to a few, there is a huge range in Roberto's typography--it is simply beautiful and never appears as an afterthought. And what a relief to see some beautiful work. What happened to beauty? While I think there is a lot of great work today, somehow beauty is too seldom a part of the equation anymore. Modern, engaging, fresh, bold, conceptual, yes, but beautiful...well, not always. Somehow beauty has been relegated to boring.

Roberto's work fills both those categories of being modern, fresh AND beautiful and it was wonderful to see.

Maybe in part because this was my first time being on my own for more than 2 hours since my daughter was born, but attending this talk was a pretty great way to spend an evening.

Feed the Hungry

2009-03-27T11:13:00.008-04:00

Jacket for Simon & Schuster. From Amazon: This rambling memoir takes readers from a Virginia plantation to punk-era New York City, with stops in the Bahamas, Brazil, Japan and other alluring destinations.

For the first round of comps, I had the words "lush," "beautiful," and "exotic" in mind. I tried to balance these concepts with the writer's upbringing in Virginia. The first concept uses a recipe card to hold the type:

For this concept, I took silhouettes of various elements from the book and filled them with color (actually a photo beneath, moved around between the objects).

A more traditional approach, beautiful and literary in feel:

Much bolder, touches on the exotic elements in the writing:

I was then asked to work with photos of the author as a young girl and her father. I adapted the recipe card and also brought in some small ornaments to hint at the author's travels:

In the end, they went for a much simpler adaptation:

It has occurred to me after Jonathan's comment that there is some disconnect between the photo on the final cover and the title. This cover went through many revisions (more than what I'm showing) and basically kept getting "simplified." The overall tone of the book shifted too. The final cover doesn't give you any sense of "food" and instead looks like a memoir (with a slightly sad sensibility to it paired with the title). Only the subtitle gives an indication of the author's connection to food...

Hi, Anxiety

2009-03-20T09:42:00.005-04:00

Originally called Hi, Anxiety, this is a cover from Amy King at Bloomsbury. The writing is an examination of anxiety disorders, specifically chronicling the author's own personal experience.

The final cover, which I did not design, is great. Sometimes the feel of the book goes through a transition. For this cover, I think I was working more towards "phobias" rather than "anxiety." That was probably where I went wrong. The final cover conveys a lot with such a simple design (again, on Amazon).

Here are some of my comps. First up, my version of making type look anxious!

Phobia overload:

I had this idea of making the back cover and front cover work together. I'm thinking the final cover took a bit of a cue from this design with the radiating circles:

Title change. A more intimate, memoir feel:

Keywords

2009-03-13T10:32:00.008-04:00

I love working for university presses. Great people, always challenging titles, and most importantly, limited revisions. In all my years working with these presses I think I've maybe had a job killed once or twice. Here is one of them...

I worked with Charles Hames at NYU Press on this title. Charles always gives me interesting covers to work on and I usually get comps that I'm very pleased with during the process. This title, Keywords for American Cultural Studies, came to me with the usual tip sheet and a couple photos of keys for direction. I liked the idea of using a key, but wanted to make it iconic and bolder so I used silhouettes. A literal take on the title for sure, but with a long list of words to include, the silhouette added a graphic element that created more visual interest. Comps didn't necessarily have to use all the key terms.

A darker variation:

Type only:

NYU provided this photo and asked me to work with it. The photo quality is low res, but it's of key hooks underneath of which I added the words:

In the end, which came quickly, they went in an entirely different direction (on Amazon).

Waiting for the Apocalypse

2009-03-04T16:27:00.009-05:00

I worked with Chin-Yee Lai at W. W. Norton on this jacket. I usually feel the most pressure to please an author with memoirs because they're so personal. The first question I usually have for an art director with memoirs is if we need to put an image of the author on the cover. Most of the time the answer is no. This jacket went through many revisions with no family photo until I asked for them. Should have asked sooner as it turns out...

The book is a coming of age memoir taking place in the 1970s. The author focuses on her childhood in an ultraconservative Catholic family. I thought the writing was often humorous, but there is an undertone of sadness.

From the first round, the young girl praying, kind of a 70s look with the hair. The distorted type making the sign of the cross:

Long shot here, but I really like the bizarre nature of the photo. The young girl, outfitted in 70s attire, laying in wait with her toy gun:

I was drawn to this photo of a young girl reading the bible. I think the one eye peeking out says a lot:

Eventually I did ask for family photos. Here is a cropped image. The "t" in waiting" is meant to look like a rosary:

And the final. The family photo turned on it's side with a sense of upheaval proved to be the best solution. Perfect sense of time and place:

The Greening of the U.S. Military

2009-02-27T08:27:00.003-05:00

Here are two alternate comps for a Georgetown University Press cover I worked on (same concept, different layouts). The idea here is that the missiles look like flowers / plants growing. I think this may have been too subtle for them.

The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard

2009-02-25T17:25:00.009-05:00

Here is a design that was killed. From Michaela at Houghton. It went to production, but then was changed before printing. The resulting hc cover is lovely (you can look it up on Amazon). Here are a couple of the hardcover comps I initially submitted:

An illustration I tweaked based on an Erte illustration, light in tone and with a definite deco feel:

And a more sophisticated, sultry approach (this is the comp that was originally approved):

Blood Kin paperback

2009-02-23T09:19:00.008-05:00

I had seen the hardcover for this title and thought it was amazing (by Paul Buckley). When Roseanne Serra sent me the paperback, I have to admit, I was a little intimidated. After getting direction from Roseanne it became clear the paperback was meant to convey a much different tone. At first the direction was to go in the style of Bell Canto and not to have the cover look "grim."

The novel traces events during the overthrow of a president in an unnamed country and centers around three men: the president's chef, barber and portraitist. More difficult than you might imagine since an unnamed country/president means quite a lot of difficulty sourcing images with no sense of place or physical description. I did pick up on a few clues. First off the author is from South Africa and one flower described in the book is the jacaranda. Jacaranda is native to tropical climates, but also is found in Africa. I used this purple flower as line art in many of the comps.

From the first round, icons referencing the 3 men:

A more sweeping, beautiful design (taking a chance here showing a person):

As we went on the direction changed after review in-house. I was told to think "pretty" possibly all-type:

Then I attempted a watercolor treatment (small inset crown and overlaying jacaranda line art):

A more "big book" look with bold type and a reference to place:

Nothing was getting approved and after 6 or so rounds we finally hired the brilliant Tamara Staples. I had a great experience working with her on this shoot. I used my first comp for direction on objects to photograph and we discussed textures, backgrounds, etc. We also added in a lush looking flower (no jacaranda to be found anywhere so a replacement was necessary) and the resulting photograph was perfect. The mood of the image captured the writing beautifully. An earlier type treatment that was liked in-house and the final design (unfortunately the seal had to be added later!):

The Error World

2009-02-21T17:47:00.010-05:00

From Michaela Sullivan at Houghton, an interesting memoir of a man obsessed with rare stamps. Michaela and I had a good discussion about this before I started designing which I think led to another rarity...a comp with no revisions.

Just one alternate here and then the final design. I think the queen on the stamp gives a sense of place, but the chosen cover conveys it better:

The King

2009-02-21T07:58:00.003-05:00

A book of poems assigned by Francine Kass at Norton. The poetry is very intense and deals primarily with motherhood, specifically breastfeeding. The jacket goes to press this month.

The alternate comp I'm showing here uses a photograph. I loved how the splash created looks like a small crown:

And the final design, splatters (milk?) forming the icon of a crown (rorschach-like). I had tried using a similar concept on another title, but it works much better here.

194X

2009-02-20T15:54:00.005-05:00

A fun project for University of Minnesota Press from Daniel Ochsner. This was a 3 color job and the direction was to celebrate the period aesthetic (I was provided with several vintage ads I had to use). “194X” referred to the undetermined date of the war’s end. The book is about the rise of planning in American architectural culture during WW II.

First comp, which I hoped they would pick. I liked the way the type formed a building:
Another comp:

And the chosen one...my last choice.

Matrimony

2009-02-20T15:08:00.009-05:00

From John Gall at Vintage, a novel about the highs and lows of one couple through college to adulthood. The author was very conservative with the direction of the design, though there was a youthfulness to the characters and the writing. Here are some comps over the long revision:

From the first round, a sweet, quirky take. John pushed for this I think, but it didn't pan out. There is a small crack down the heart. I don't think I've ever used a heart on a cover before, but I embraced the concept here:

A youthful approach, a photo split in two:

Another variation on the bird design, but this time with the type doing the work:

And the final design (photo by Ann Cutting). John eventually hired a photographer to take this image based on a stock photo I found. The photographer did an excellent job. I considered asking John if I could be paid in part by getting the shoes from the shoot.

The First Person

2009-02-20T10:01:00.001-05:00

A great collection of stories, this title came to me via Jonathan Sainsbury at Pantheon. Ali Smith is a big name..so I knew what I was getting into. It didn't stop me from trying a few interesting concepts.

First up:

Second comp, that I illustrated. Based directly on a line from her short story, True Short Story, that states: “Franz Kafka says that a short story is a cage in search of a bird.”

and the final comp. I think this one came across as more commercially viable, which I get. The first story revolves around a mysterious box. Enough said.

shelved...

2009-02-20T09:53:00.000-05:00

A blog dedicated to the cover that never happened.

Let's be honest, book cover designers....a good portion of our work doesn't get approved. Instead of archiving them away forever, I'll show my lost comps here. A little context, a little subjective commentary, killed comps and the final printed piece = shelved.

Posting may be light at first due to my big design project these days...my daughter. Also still working on the format of the site...more to come.