I used that same fur texture (with some edits) to fill out the back with a new author page and a letter from Ariel. Everything else was basic zhushing/checking that everything was optimized for print. I do remember adjusting all the lettering in the art to print 100%K for the cleanest quality text.

We also added a title page! This was a fun challenge to take the fur texture and title treatment and re-interpret them without the actual figure of the wolf. After that the book starts as normal.

We also got to select ends! We waffled between red and pink. But ultimately went with pink since that was more fun.

Since we went for the hardcover, that meant losing the flaps of the original and integrating them into the front and back. What was great about this is it left a lot of room for blurbs. I also decided to use the lettering font for the majority of the design in order to simplify things.

I learned today that the new hardcover edition of Cry Wolf Girl by @arielries.bsky.social that I helped put together was nominated for a Ringo in Best Design and I wanted to talk a little bit about what changed between editions.

Catching up on blind alley (this is five years on) and this is just a portrait of @haaarpb.bsky.social

Now that the direction was approved and we had our FINAL title. I further developed the rest of it based on the original concept, adding new glyphs, refining, and cleaning them up a bit. The nitty gritty details. In general though this title developed very naturally! A pleasure to work on! 💖

Ultimately, none of those previous ones were the one that we ended up with! The team much preferred this one, and this was the direction shared with Niki! However..... this did end up being lucky for me because I'm really not sure how I would've adapted the other concepts into the MUCH longer title.

These are a call out of some of my early favorites (which you'll see circled in the previous post). Read the alt text for my in-depth thoughts on each!

As is typical for my title design process, there always ends up being a big gridded doc with alternate options. The concept of this cover was already pretty strong, so for this one I was just trying to attack that breezy coastal feeling with a couple different approaches.

Midsummer Sisters by @nikismithcomics.bsky.social has been out for a little over a week now!! This was one of the last books I designed at Scholastic, and I want to give some flowers to this book. I adored it and process of this one so much. 🐴 Final (as submitted by me) --> early idea from Niki

24 hours in Reykjavík and I went sicko mode at the zine and art book shop. (Everyone go to bókombók. GREAT store)

MAJOR UPDATE for all INDESIGN USERS. Adobe has screwed us again. If you are using the latest version (any 21.x), indesign will automatically generate AI alt text for ALL IMAGES. Instructions to change your defaults in the screenshot and linked here: helpx.adobe.com/indesign/usi...

Parallel play but instead it’s parallel crafting like with blow pens and one of these guys

If you have a Mac, this is THE one. Buy at whatever storage level you need.

You haven’t seen this NY rental company.

The paneling goes crazy. I’ve been thinking about this for weeks now??

I’m stupid and missed this giant hardcover edition of Cry Wolf Girl by @arielries.bsky.social in my 2025 stack and now the good light is gone. But! What a joy to make this big lovely edition. I think the art really sings in the big size.

Also special shout to Ansel Kite and Syd Madia who made some very special floppies (no spines to show off) that I love dearly and I’m so glad were some of my last sprocket books. I loved making their books pop with Pantones for these very special packages. You should pick them up!!!

Special shout to @bulgilhanpress.com and @kumerish.bsky.social I was so glad they asked me to design/produce some books of theirs and help make their Pantone dreams possible without losing their minds. With leaving sprocket I’d still like to do work with small presses! Please email me!!

Once again it’s the time when I post the stack of books I designed which were published within this calendar year. This was a year of many changes! Next year will look very different (full of manga lol), but as always I’m so grateful for every artists’ trust. I love making your books shine.

Fieldmouse has under 48hrs and only needs less than $1k to make this book happen. I'm so excited and hope they hit their goal. ALSO I'm directly sharing their proof image from the kickstarter page because COME ONNNN look at that exquisite cover.

Yay and of course!!!!! Also this page in particular really gets me lol. Obsessed with Tulip’s somewhat evil expression in the last panel.

🌼 BIG NEWS 🌼 I just finished my first week in my new role as Art Director for Inklore (Penguin Random House's manga/manhwa imprint). I'm very excited to continue to build up this imprint and work on books that will make the fujos in my life proud.

There’s so much to be gained from just picking up random jazz vinyl because the art RULES.

I forgot to show off this cake I made a few weeks ago!!!! I’m proud of it!!

Sea Legs by @nikismithcomics.bsky.social & @julesbakes.bsky.social is out! And I wanted to share some alt title treatments. :) This is one of those that just came together really naturally, so I actually don't have a TON of iterations. Check the alt text for my thoughts about each one tho. ⛵

Bonus for the books without spines too!!

Once again it’s that time where I post every book I designed that was published within the calendar year. As always, I’m eternally grateful to every artist who trusts me with their work, and I feel so lucky to work on such an eclectic stack of books.

I finally have her!!!! Thank you @kumerish.bsky.social