I just added my latest cover design for the New York Times Best-selling series, Emily Windsnap, to my website. This is the fifth book in the series. It was released by Candlewick Press. I continued with the new look that I established for the series last year. This project differed in that I worked with illustrator Sarah Gibb to create original artwork for the cover. The cover features a shimmery blue foil stamp on the title typography and a glitter spot gloss on the bubbles. Completing the package for a shiny, sparkly mermaid tale!

The other books in the series. Read more about the initial redesign here.

My latest jacket design for Nora Raleigh Baskin's new YA novel, Surfacing. See the full jacket here.

Time to celebrate! Last week was a very exciting week. Laura Amy Schlitz, won a Newbery Honor for her fantastic book, Splendors and Glooms. The Newbery Honor is awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. I had the privilege of designing the book jacket. I worked closely with the amazingly talented and versatile illustrator Bagram Ibatoulline to create a jacket that conveyed the lush, magical dark mood of this amazing Victorian tale. The approach to this jacket was unique in that all parties (the Author, Editor, Art director and Designer) were involved from the initial concepting to final product. It was a joy to work on. Click here to see the full jacket.

In addition to the Newbery Honor, the American Library Association also awarded a Stonewall Honor to Lesléa Newman for her incredibly moving October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard. The Stonewall is awarded for exceptional merit relating to the GLBT experience. I designed this jacket as well and recently posted about it here.
To add to the excitement, Jon Klassen won a Caldecott Medal for the wonderful, This Is Not My Hat.
I was lucky enough to work with the talented Mr. Klassen a couple years ago on the jacket for The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic. 

A huge congratulations to Laura, Lesléa, Jon and all of the fantastic and talented people at the phenomenal Candlewick Press who made these books possible!

I have been an admirer of illustrator Jonathan Bartlett's work for some time. When I was assigned the jacket for Leslea Newman's extremely moving October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard, I knew that Jonathan would be a perfect fit for for this jacket. And he did not disappoint. He handled this challenging project with sensitivity and grace. Click here to see the full jacket.

I was recently given the task of rebranding the New York Times best-selling series, Emily Windsnap. It was a challenging assignment. I was to redesign the series, but use the existing art (which is by the talented Sarah Gibb) in a new way. I created this playful type new treatment, reworked the art and then focused on giving each book its own distinct color palette. The full jackets can be seen here on my site. I am happy to report that the new design has been very well received and is out-selling the old look 2 to 1!

Hello! I have been away for a bit. (More about that later . . .)
I am excited to share that the book, The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic by Allan Wolf, was selected to be in the New England Book Show. I designed the cover and Sherry Fatla designed the lovely interior. The New England Book Show is "an annual juried show that recognizes the year's most outstanding work by New England publishers, printers and graphic designers." It was an honor to be included in the show and an honor to work on this book. It is such a moving story and beautifully done. It was also a huge honor to work with the incredibly talented illustrator, Jon Klassen. I'm pretty sure I did a happy dance when the initial sketch for this concept arrived in my InBox. He was a joy to work with.

Discovered this endpaper via Pinterest. It is from The Velveteen Rabbit (1922) by William Nicholson. So gorgeous!

Thank you Santa!
Excited about the new books I received over the holidays.

Browsing through Margaret Kilgallen: In the Sweet Bye & Bye. Love this installation.
Margaret Kilgallen is one of my all-time favs.