Creative Power [comps]

edited by Micki McGee : Columbia University Press

An interesting volume on the politics and art inside the gates of Yaddo in upstate New York. The book will accompany an exhibit of Yaddo artists. I proposed a more political angle that showed a mock-up of a flag with a detail of the gate to play off the art and politics in the book, but the title needed to be downplayed so I am now working with a more straightforward solution and I used a monochromatic treatment for the title to push is back a bit. Still under review, so we'll see.

UPDATE: The project was ultimately placed with another designer after the title changed and an image change were requested. See the final cover here.

ABCs

I took the summer off last year to travel with my husband and my two kids. While we were away I asked my children to help me find the alphabet in the world around us. We explored Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon together and this is an alphabet created out of the numerous letters we found along the way.

White But Not Equal

Ignacio M. Garcia : University of Arizona Press

I pitched the idea of running the front cover without spelling out "not equal" and letting the symbol suffice, but in the end editorial felt it needed to be reinstated. Then the author asked for me to create a darker skin tone as well as add "dirt" to the hand. I quickly mocked this up, but now the hand is too dark to carry the symbol so I reversed it to white, but I worry the design's strength is getting watered down. I am researching new hand imagery and will likely begin again before this is printed and wrapped around the final book.

Where Clouds Are Formed

Ofelia Zepeda : University of Arizona Press

The image is from one of the poems where a daughter and father are having a talk and they spend time listening to the rain during the the silent breaks in conversation.

A Radiant Curve

Luci Tapahonso : University of Arizona Press

A radiant curve is a rainbow in Navajo mythology, and I wanted to find art that represented a rainbow, but not literally. This dynamic image is by Navajo painter Emmi Whitehorse. I enjoyed reviewing all the Navajo painters for this project. I had not worked on that type of research in several years. Emmi Whitehorse is the first artist I ever located for a Sun Tracks book so it was fun to work with her imagery again and to find this image with all the colors of the rainbow showcased is such a fresh way.

To Be Like Gods

Matthew G. Looper : University of Texas Press

The author supplied the ancient Mayan pottery for the cover. I liked this figure very much. The chosen design was the most simple of the grouping I proposed and while appropriate it would have been fun to see this pushed a bit.

The Best American Magazine Writing 2008

compiled by the American Society of Magazine Editors
and Columbia University Press

Literary Nevada

edited by Cheryll Glotfelty : University of Nevada Press

A tricky project with lots of opinions about design direction. This design is a slight variation from my original proposal and I think the collage works nicely for the collection.