What led you to art and graphic design?

I have enjoyed creating art my whole life, and in high school I decided that I wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to be creative. My bachelor’s degree is in art education, and I taught art for several years before taking some time away from my career to spend more time at home with my own children. I had taken one computer graphics course in college, so when the opportunity came up to do some freelance graphic design work for a couple of Maine-based magazines, I was excited to gain more design experience. I loved the work I did on those magazines and, at that point, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in graphic design.

The circular designs in Around Maine look so intricate. Is the process of developing them difficult? Do you do all the work on a computer?

For Around Maine, all of the work was done on the computer using a program called Adobe Illustrator. I started by drawing the main parts of each design, such as the animals, shells and boats, separately. Drawing these on the computer is very different from how I would draw on paper, so it definitely took some time to get things the way I wanted them to look. Once I had developed the main elements for a design, I started to work on repeating them to create the radial designs. This involved creating one segment of the design that was then copied around to create the full design. There was a lot of back and forth in adding and deleting various elements, playing with the sizing and also looking at the way the elements overlapped.

Are coloring books just for kids?

No! Coloring can be fun for all ages. Sometimes adults get caught up in the myth that you have to color inside the lines or that coloring has to be perfect. Coloring is meant to be fun and relaxing, so experiment with different colors and materials and never be afraid to color outside the lines!

I find that older adults often enjoy coloring as a relaxing and inexpensive hobby. I gave my grandmother a copy of Around Maine when it was first published and she colored every page. After my grandmother’s death, I found her copy of the coloring book, and now I treasure it as a connection to her. It is beautiful to see my designs colored by her hand.

What other work have you personally produced?

I have made a variety of artwork over the years. I enjoy painting, drawing and creating digital artwork, and my artwork has been a part of some local art events and exhibits. I have created logos, t-shirts and other marketing materials for local businesses and organizations.

Describe the process of designing a Penobscot Books book.

Before I can begin developing designs for a book, there is a lot of information that I need to gather. What is the book about? Who is the intended audience? Is there a certain mood or personality that should be conveyed? What size will the book be? Are there any certain fonts, colors or images that should be incorporated?

Once I have gathered this information, I begin designing the cover and interior of the book. I like to incorporate elements from the cover, such as specific fonts or colors, into the pages of the book to create a sense of continuity. I always try out multiple ideas and compare them on screen, as well as print them out, so I can get a better sense of size and readability. I present these design ideas to others within the company and get feedback to incorporate as I work toward a final design.

Once the final elements have been agreed on, I can create the final designs for the cover and the interior. With the interior of the book, I first lay out the main part of the text using the styles determined during the design phase, and then I go back and insert images and captions, as well as spend some time on special pages, like the title page, that require some extra work. Then there are multiple rounds of revisions based on looking at both on-screen and printed versions. When everything is done and approved, I make the final PDF documents that will be sent to the printer.

What would be your dream book project?

I would love to work on a Maine-themed cookbook, filled with beautiful and appetizing photos of food. I think this would be such a fun and creative project as a designer. Recipes are made up of set elements such as ingredients lists and step-by-step directions, that would lend themselves to create a really interesting structure to the text portion of the book. I think cookbooks often incorporate color and other design elements in interesting ways to create a design that is engaging, but that also has a clear organization and helps readers find what they are looking for.