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, Lorrai…

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. Sele…

Sarah Wasley is the Production 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 bas…

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…

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 …

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…

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…

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 …

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…

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, Desig…

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 publishin…

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 Inter…

Double figures! Episode 10 features the return of co-host Nate and our good friend and photographer, Will Bremridge. Will has photographed everyone from musicians (Kendrick Lamar, Bruce Dickinson), comedians (Katherine Ryan) to work for brands like Sony and Quiksilver.Will has been a drummer, a snowboarder and now a photographer. Aside from "cool" …

Our first woman!* Yve swung by for a cup of tea, a granola tile and a chat with Nate and I. Growing up, Yve wanted to be an actor, a playwright and even a puppeteer at a hippy commune in Montreal? Luckily for you, us and the world of musical comedy - Yve chose a different path as, you guessed it, a musical comedienne. In this episode we talk about …

Steve Leard stops by to chat to Liam about his work creating Off Life, a curated print magazine that's introducing people to the wonders of indie comics and the talented people creating them. You'll hear why designing book covers was Steve's 'Holy grail' and the tricks he's learned in balancing creative work and life - including taking the odd digi…