Meet the Design Associates at Tate Publishing-

Brrr it's chilly today! Let's have some warm conversation from Kellie Southerland and Joey Garrett, our Design Associates. Each of these talented designers contribute to the design department at Tate Publishing in their own unique way, to ensure the overall design of each book is impeccable. Read on for more:

Q: What is your job title, and what role do you play in the book design department?
KS: Book Design Conceptual Associate. I help other designers develop the concepts for their covers and work with them to communicate visually through the cover. I help around the design office with special projects, help solve problems, review cover designs and design book covers as well.
JG: Book Design Technical Associate, my role is to review layouts and to assist designers with technical questions regarding layout or program questions.

Q: When did you first realize that you wanted a career in design?
KS: I have always loved art. I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil and love trying new ways and mediums to create art, but had no idea how to make a living at it until my Dad encouraged me to look into graphic design. I started taking classes back in high school at my Dad's suggestion to get college credit, but I really fell in love with graphic design in college.
JG: I realized my love for design shortly after high school.

Q: Kellie and Joey, your roles are very different, but how important is each of you to the final book design?
KS: The cover is the first impression that a reader has of your book. The cover sets the tone, the mood, and gives the reader an idea of the story at a glance. A good cover baits the hook for the reader and draws them in to pick it up and begin reading. Having a dynamic cover design is extremely crucial!
JG: Both our roles are very important, yet very different. My goal is to make make the layout of each book easy to read as well as visually interesting.

Q: Who/what is your inspiration?
KS: I get inspired by anything and everything. It may be a famous work of art one day, and then the next day, it's a left over pencil shaving. I love looking at what other people come up with as well. I will often go to the book store for fun and spend hours just looking at all the other covers and then get lost in the illustrations of a kid's book! I can't go to the grocery store without getting inspired; packaging design fascinates me.
JG: I really get inspired by other great designs and music I can tap my toe to.

Q: If you were to give first time authors one piece of advice, what would it be?
KS: Listen to your designer. Our goal is to make your book the best it can be! Their advice is not to push their own design, but to truly benefit your book. Hours of thought, training, and careful purpose have gone into the designs they present to you to make your book a success. Don't be afraid to trust them just because their design may be different then what you expected.
JG: I would advise first time authors to relax have an open mind and trust their designers. Your designer's main goal is to design a book that will be marketable.

Q: If you were to choose a piece of art that you felt described who you are as a designer and person, what would it be?
KS: I think it would be Cafe Terrace at Night, by VanGogh. Sitting down over a cup of coffee with a friend and listening to what's going on in their life is one of my absolute favorite things to do! I would love to go to that coffee shop that VanGogh painted and see if it's just as dainty and delicate as he depicted. The colors and the detail in that impressionistic painting are kind of like me: contrast that somehow balances out my personality and an eye for detail.
JG: I believe that Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water best describes me as a designer and person. He purposefully uses hard angles against the softness of water to make his house more interesting. I, as a designer, also strive to make my work more interesting by incorporating the cover design throughout the book's layout. The piece reflects me as a person because, I am flexible and adaptable like the water, but I'm also capable of being edgy and taking risks.

Q: What is your favorite part about being a book designer?
KS: I love the first of the month and getting to see all the new books I get to work on. I love seeing the titles on the schedule and having the ideas flood to my mind. I wish there was a way to better capture those first ideas before they fade away.
JG: My favorite part about being a book designer is working along side the author and being able to make their dreams come true.

Q: What is one thing that you are really good at, other than being a designer?
KS: Singing. I love to sing, but I have terrible stage fright, so I only sing in my car! Haha!
JG: My next love other than design is working in the yard. I don't mow my lawn, I manicure it.

Q: How do you want to be remembered 100 years from now?
KS: I want to be remembered as someone who lived with a purpose. Someone who put thought into everything they did and somehow made an impact. I love working one on one with a person and so, to know that I helped bless their life in someway would be great!
JG: I want to be remembered as an extremely hard worker who always had a smile on his face.

Q: What is your greatest desire with each book you work with?
KS: That both the author will be pleased with the design and that the design markets the book well. When those two things are accomplished is when I feel I've done my job!
JG: My greatest desire is to go above and beyond the authors expectations.