Not to stop at time travel and dinosaurs, Ben Wolf has shifted to magic portals, unicorns, and pineapples falling from the sky for his next middle grade series. Once again, I did the typography and Andrew Yong (@jonadrew_ on Instagram) did the incredible artwork.
Definitely be sure to check out both of Ben’s series, with more information on his fully-funded Kickstarter. And don’t forget to check out Andrew’s other work on his Instagram and website!
Typography for the Dino Adventures Series
Ben Wolf is at it again with another book series, this time a middle grade series about him and his son running from dinosaurs after a time travel accident.
The very talented Andrew Yong (@jonadrew_ on Instagram) did the illustration work, while I handled the typography and layout. I highly, highly recommend checking out Andrew’s art page and purchasing some of his prints from his online shop.
Cover Design for ‘Flying The Tyrant’
This cover design was extra fun in a somewhat surreal way, partially because I have a strange fascination with Saddam Hussein. Staring into his unsettling eyes on the on the news was one of my very first memories (preceding that was 9/11. Yes, my childhood started off great). Hussein was my introduction to Evil, and he lived rent-free in baby Jenneth’s head for weeks.
So the book sounded absolutely fascinating, as it details the true events of Hussein’s private pilot, who turned out to be a spy for the Americans.
Cover and Logo Design for At the Boundary Between Daylight and Shadow
I’ve been really excited to share this cover, because it might be my new favorite so far. This is technically my first completed Realm Makers book (what I mean is, the author attends the annual Realm Makers conference where I make many of my author connections). The author wanted a blend between science fiction and fantasy, which is difficult considering they both have entirely different trends in design, particularly with typography. Fantasy frequently has scripted, speculative, or even gothic letters, while science fiction has rigid san serifs with little to no flourish (in general, not by rule).
Cover and Interior Design for ‘Reaching My Dreams’
This is another college student’s senior portfolio project. She asked me to do a drawing of her in the style of Studio Ghibli, which was more challenging than I expected (I forget how insane anime backgrounds are compared to their simple line art characters). But I downloaded a few new Procreate brushes for this project, which saved me a lot of time and stress. Overall, it was really fun to do. I always like learning other artists’ styles for a project.
Cover and Interior Design for ‘The Endeavor’
This is the last college student’s portfolio project of the previous semester. This cover might have upwards of ten photos mixed together, but I’m not sure I can name them all now. It was definitely one of my more heavier-composited covers, since the character on the front was so specific and tied to one of the stories Justin had in his anthology.
Cover and Interior Design for ‘What Makes a Man’
I designed this cover for a student at my alma mater. I offer discounts to professional writing seniors who need to compile all their work into a printed book for their capstone project (yes, I help them with their homework…legally). It’s been really enjoyable to do these, and I have a few more upcoming for this semester. I often do the interior designs for these as well, so they’re fun creative side projects that break up my standard workload.
Cover Design for ‘A Mulatto Slave’ (And A Dabble In AI?)
The challenge was getting a high resolution image of Peter Hunt, since the image we had to work with was only 2 inches tall and wouldn’t print at a full bleed like we wanted. I ended up running it through an AI-powered photo enhancer to upscale and sharpen some of the details that were lost. Although not a perfect restoration by any means, it gave us a place to start with.
Cover and Logo Design for Into The Forest
This actually was a dream come true in some ways. In grad school, I did a whole series deliberately focusing on what Red Riding Hood would look like as different genres, so when Jennifer emailed me and asked if I would be willing to do a real Red Riding Hood retelling, (which could can purchase on her website and Amazon) I was stoked.
Cover Design for Fire Flight
I got a fun batch of fun speculative fiction covers recently, and this was no exception. Coincidently, I met the author over a local writer’s Zoom call in the middle of the pandemic, then met her in person at the annual Realm Makers conference in St. Louis. For her upcoming collection of short stories, she asked if I would design the cover, which I eagerly jumped at.