Monthly Archives: June 2011

Book Design

27 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in Art, Books, Design, Publishing, Work

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This class, people! It is kicking my butt. One of the things I like about grad school is it definitely forces me out of my comfort zone, and I’m learning all kinds of good things. The short-term downside? So. Much. Work.

I’ve never taken graphic design, and that’s largely what this class is, so that’s why I’ve been quiet here. But now I can share a bit! Check out the learning curve for my first project, designing the cover for a short story by Dorothy Parker.

The story is, “A Telephone Call,” so I couldn’t help but go for the obvious at first (Important Note: All these covers are the full wrap, so the left half is the back cover and the right half is the front):

To keep from being too boring, though, I brought in this one as well (the story was written around the 1920s, so flapper seemed to fit the scene):

Consensus? The flapper was cool, but not quite right, and the telephone wasn’t working either (and was from the wrong time, to boot). Back to the drawing board!

I thought about the concept of the design, and decided my main focus was the fact that she was waiting for this call. After looking at some terrifying photos of bitten nails and lips, I decided smoking was a nervous habit I could feature in some kind of aesthetic way:

Two or three revisions later, came out with this, and realized my ashtray looked more like a drinking glass. Did a little more research…

This is much better! Except…the ashtray is recognizably Great Depression-era–about a decade too late for the story. Not a huge time gap, but enough to irritate those in the know.

Right era, decent concept, but so stark. I was beating my head against a wall by this point (keep in mind, I’m only showing you about 2/3 of the revisions I did on this design). My computer was so stuffed with photos of cigarettes, cigarette stubs, cigarette smoke and ashtrays that I was worried Andrew would think I had some kind of weird nicotine fetish. I still loved the idea of this glamorous girl in the ’20s waiting by the phone, smoking nervously, probably using some fantastic Cruella de Vil-esque cigarette holder. And then I found it. I talked to my professor to make sure she wouldn’t freak out if I overhauled my design yet again, and she gave me the green light to make this:

I finally felt like I had a book that felt like a book. I don’t have a grade back quite yet (I’ve been out for a week, so hopefully tomorrow), but this is the design that makes me happy. There’s a lot I like about this final version, and some things I’m sure could still improve, but I won’t say anything else for now. I’d love to hear what people think!

New Job!!

06 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in Goals, Publishing

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After nine crazy months of working three part-time jobs in three different cities (Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Annapolis), I’ve landed a new position that should make my life ten times easier. Starting at the end of the month, I’ll be the new Project Manager for a publishing service company (they take projects for publishing companies, such as formatting print books to be e-books, handling the layout and design for manuscripts, etc.).

A quick caveat to the celebration that’s about to go on here: I am keeping the Youth Director position, mostly because I really enjoy it and feel invested in the kids, and also because I still need that income to make ends meet. Because of this, I will still be pulling the 50-hour shift for the time being. That said, here is what I am looking forward to with this career change:

1. It’s in my field. Publishing is highly competitive, and there aren’t too many opportunities in this area. Between getting to spend my work days doing what I want to do and getting a foot in the door of the industry, this is a fantastic shift from doing filing work for a company where I’m neither qualified or interested in rising up the ranks.

2. It’s in my city. Or close enough. I’m about a half-hour drive from Gwynn Oak to Towson, instead of an hour to hour-and-a-half drive, plus half-hour Metro trip to D.C. I get to get up at 7:15 instead of 6:00 a.m., and will get home closer to 5:45 than 6:45 or 7:00 p.m.

3. I eliminate the Metro from my life. Unless there’s an exhibit or something in D.C. that I want to see for fun, Metro commuting is over. No more spending $40 a week on parking and Metro passes, no crowded cars or waiting for trains or gloomy platforms. I am well aware that on-the-road rush hour’s no fun, either, but I am very happy to know that when I am stuck in traffic now, at least I will be able to see the sky.

4. It’s much more challenging than what I was doing before. This job will be a lot closer to the work I was doing as an Editorial Assistant at Passager than as a law clerk, and it will probably be even more involved than at Passager, since it’s full-time and I may even have people (like proofreaders) working under me. It’s a weird thought, and an exciting one. I’ve been the underling in almost every job I’ve held since graduation. Sometimes it’s been pleasant work and I hardly noticed being at the bottom, sometimes it was made painfully clear how little power I had. Sometimes, like at the law firm, it became the kind of thing I took for granted. It’s a major confidence boost to think that I’m starting in a position where I have some real responsibility to make sure stuff gets done.

The countdown stands at 3 weeks exactly until my first day as Project Manager. I’m looking forward to a few free days and the church mission trip before I start. Money’s a little tight this month, since I’m basically working half-time (only two jobs a week, and one week of only church), but I’m feeling great about the new beginning waiting for me at the end of the month.