Cover Meeting

Charlotte Abrams Simpson is one of the Art Directors at the Orion publishing group. She left Wolverhampton and moved to London at 18 to pursue her passion for art and design – studying at Central St Martins and the University for Creative Arts Epsom. Predominantly designing for the leading commercial titles for authors such as Anton Du Beke, Lorraine Kelly and Veronica Henry. Her experience spans...

Craig Oldham has been named by his peers as one of the most influential designers working in the UK, and has written books on a range of topics, including education, visual culture, film, and politics. He runs his eponymous and pedagogic creative practice, Office Of Craig, in Manchester and he's also the creative director of Rough Trade Books. Selected Books: Leeds Postcards (Four Corners Books) 2...

Sarah Wasley is the P roduction Director and Design Director of Granta Books.  Sarah began her career at The Women's Press in 1987 as a receptionist and sales assistant, before moving to Quartet Books in the early 90s. There, she worked as an assistant in production, rights, and publicity. She later progressed to Production Manager, where she was based in the design studio, gaining invaluable insi...

In the first episode of season 2, we speak with Jack Smyth – a freelance designer and illustrator from Ireland. His clients include Penguin Random House, Faber & Faber, Harpercollins, Granta, Daunt Books, Simon & Schuster, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Politico and The Atlantic. He has previously worked inhouse at 4th Estate, Simon & Schuster, Little, Brown and Tower Records and holds an MA...

In this last episode of Season One, we speak with Tree Abraham – a brilliant book designer, illustrator and writer. Tree was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada before studying graphic design in the UK and interning at various publishers in London. Tree then went on to work in New York City where she's been ever since, working for Abrams, Bloomsbury and Grand Central Publishing. Tree is now an Art D...

Suzanne Dean is a Creative Director who has worked at Vintage Books for over twenty years. She has created covers for iconic titles and bestsellers from  The Handmaid's Tale ,  Entangled Life  and  Sapiens  to  H is for Hawk , Atonement  and  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time . She's also worked with a wide range of fantastic authors including Haruki Murakami, Toni Morrison and Jul...

Mike Dempsey has been a practising graphic designer since 1964. From the late sixties he worked as an Art Director for two leading British publishing houses. In 1979 he founded the design consultancy Carroll & Dempsey, which later became CDT Design Ltd. His work has earned him many awards and in 2012 he was presented with a special Black Pencil for the most awarded designer in D&AD's 50-year histo...

Jamie Keenan is a book cover designer who has been freelancing since setting up his own studio in 1998. He has since designed covers for Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Pullman, A M Homes, Franz Kafka, Tess Gunty and thousands of others. Jamie also co-founded the Academy Of British Cover Design (ABCD) awards along with Jon Gray. The awards have been running since 2014 and has helped bring...

Zoe Norvell has been in the book publishing world since she graduated from the Pratt Institute in 2011. Her very first job was an internship with Rodrigo Corral's studio. From there, she worked at Simon & Schuster before moving to Penguin Random House. In 2015, she left to become a full-time freelancer. In 2022 she launched a new subdivision of her book business that focuses on book interiors. Thi...

James Jones is an award-winning art director, designer and illustrator who freelances for publishers all over the world. James has worked at Orion Publishing Group, Vintage Books, and as Art Director at both Oneworld Publications and Head of Zeus. His work has been recognised by the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Type Directors Club, Design Observer, The Academy of British Cover Design an...

In this episode Cover Meeting speaks with Micaela Alcaino , a book cover designer and illustrator who relocated from her home in Sydney, Australia to London in 2013.  Selected as one of The Booksellers Rising Stars of 2021, named Designer of the Year at the British Book Awards 2022, and named in The Bookseller 150 most influential people in publishing in 2022, she has almost a decade of experience...

In this first episode of Cover Meeting, Steve Leard is   joined by David Pearson , a graphic designer who has been commissioned by Wes Anderson, Christie's,  The New York Times , Penguin Books, Sir Ridley Scott and the V&A. David has been listed as one of Britain's Top 50 Designers by  The Guardian , is a member of the prestigious  Alliance Graphique Internationale  (AGI) and in 2015 he was appoin...