Art Direction

What is Art Direction

Collaborating with me, you’ll get a fresh approach working with industry’s top talent and emerging names. Known for discovering underground artists and hobbyists who should be industry names, I find talent and work with them to create the boldest, most exciting designs.

During the collaboration, you’ll get clarity on the brief, an array of different approaches, and you’ll map the best course to getting the most original execution. The final result will be something you could not have dreamed of.

Whether you have a new project that needs to make a splashing debut or an existing look that needs a new look to make a stir – art direction can yield the best results. It’s great for solving the problem of how to stand out. Every project is original, different, and unlike anything else on the market. Sourcing only the most authentic and bespoke talent.

Learn more about my process of The Doll Factory below.

When is Art Direction the best approach?

What was the Brief?

The Doll Factory was Picador's lead fiction debut for 2019 and we needed to make a real splash with it.

The cover design would - ideally - have a story behind it and would be able to extend out to sales and marketing material and our proof covers to create a visual world around the novel. That shouldn't be hard because there is ample material in the book to take inspiration from: this is Great Exhibition-era Victorian London, the Pre-Raphaelite painter’s feature, our heroine is an artist herself, and the book and its characters have a fascination with objects of all kinds.

Who Were The Competition

  • A white-framed book cover featuring a seashell that is duplicated and reflected on a gold accented wallpaper

    The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar

    Chosen for its cover success in the market - sumptuous, beautiful, and decorative. A historical novel shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2018 

  • A white-framed book cover featuring a print of green snakeskin and orange and yellow flowers

    The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry

    A bestselling historical novel in 2018 that got picked up by the BBC and made into a television mini-series starring Clare Dane and Tom Hiddleston.

  • A white-framed book cover featuring a wooden doll house with paper cut-out figurines

    The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

    Our very own The Miniaturist which I too designed, also made into a BBC production. A very successful historical fiction package that helped this to be a No.1 bestselling book.

What Was My Process

Running with the themes of the Great Exhibition, Victorian London, taxidermy, etc. I went about researching relevant imagery and categorizing my findings into approaches. These were my mood boards:

The Approaches

  • Rough #1 Victorian Gilding

  • Rough #2 Victorian Taxidermy

  • Rough #3 Pre-Raphaelite Painting

  • Rough #4 Collage using a Damian Hirst print 

  • Rough #5 Butterfly Display Case

  • Rough #6 Victorian Bell Jar - THE WINNER!

The Winning Concept

The Doll Factory Book cover on a background of illustrated butterflies, moths, and a bear.

The bell jar encapsulates the rich world of the novel. The distortion created by the jar-trapped figure reflects the main character. Bell jar, cool authentic, and a covetable object. Also bringing in a sense of place and time.

This cover was created in collaboration with Line and Martin Andersen who did the illustration and photography.

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"Here it is - the final cover of The Doll Factory. It's even more beautiful than I imagined - the design team bought a real bell jar, hired a lettering company, and filled it with illustrations. handmade doll and paper flowers. I am OBSESSED! Thank you so much Katie."

Elizabeth Macneal
Author of The Doll Factory

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