Context:

A Song to Drown Rivers is a fun project with many moving pieces. As the story features a fierce female lead, the custom case stamps I art directed similarly evoked strength and beauty balanced. Rhys Davies did the illustrations and per usual was a delightful collaborator. The lotus endpapers (using 1 color Pantone metallic ink for a chic sheen) are also relevant to the text.

I kept the typography stark to tie in with all of the decorative elements but not make things too busy, opting for simple swash ornaments on the title page. The edges and jacket were designed by the art department, not design, so I consulted with them to make sure everything was cohesive.

This book was picked for many special lists, including Book of the Month, Good Morning America Book Club Pick, an October 2024 Indie Next Pick, and an October 2024 LibraryReads Pick.

On the back end, production-wise, we had to choose many different specs in order to achieve the same, consistent results across printers (their materials lists are all different, so this is a task in itself). This timeline was truncated due to overseas printing, an example of how I work well under a short schedule when need be to beautiful results.

Tasks:

Case design, endpaper design, typesetting entire book, collaborating with the art department.

Skills used:

Art direction, creative project management, inDesign, time management, typography, and color theory.

Author: Ann Liang, Cover and Edge Designer: Ervin Serrano, Illustrator (for case stamps): Rhys Davies