Interview with Art Director Marianne Jankowski
What made you want to become a book designer?
MJ:Â Like a lot of us, I stumbled into publishing. My first exposure was with the University of Illinois Press, where I worked while still a student, mostly making line corrections for reprints. After two failed attempts at design positions after graduation, I reached for the Chicago Creative Directory and started cold callingâfirst on the list was Joseph Alderfer, the design manager at the University of Chicago Press. I wasnât new to cold calling but was startled when Joe said, âYes, we have an entry-level position; when can you come by for an interview?â My early years at Chicago, as well as a later stint in the â90s, still hold a special place in my heart because itâs where I learned book design from some very talented people and fell in love with typography.
Tell us about your home press, Northwestern University Press?Â
MJ: From its inception, Northwestern University Press has been at the forefront in publishing important works of scholarship as well as quality works of fiction, drama, nonfiction, and poetry. NUP currently publishes about 60 books a year.
How many covers do you design in a year?Â
MJ:Â About 35% of our covers are in series, which means theyâre templated and need only new imagery, so Iâm designing roughly 40 covers a year.
Whatâs your design process?
MJ:Â I try to come to a simple understanding of the book, the essence of what is being discussed. I glean this information from a variety of sources: information from the acquisitions editor, readersâ reports, the manuscript, and previous blurbs if the book is a reprint. At times I am in contact with the author about the cover, but most times acquisitions gives me feedback from the author. I then start searching out potential visuals and/or check into the rights for suggested imagery. Occasionally âtype onlyâ covers prove best. I meet with sales & marketing, acquisitions, and the director every two weeks to review ongoing cover work. If there is a difference of opinion, we often poll our sales reps, who give valuable feedback on what they predict will do best in the marketplace.Â
How is working on a trade cover different than working on a scholarly cover?
MJ:Â I feel there is more freedom in working on trade covers, because more can be left to interpretation. A novel or book of poetry can elicit a variety of visual images. I take note of any directives from sales & marketing and also from the authors, although Iâm always careful not to promise that weâll definitely use their âtalented nephewâs drawing,â just in case. I try to garner most images from royalty-free stock houses to keep costs down, but sometimes a rights-managed image is the only way to go. While attending a cover design workshop, a trade publishing creative director asked âWhat does the story look like?â Iâve tried to keep this in mind when working on trade covers.Â
A recent trade novel is about a gynecologist contending with Stalinâs prohibition of abortions in 1936. In the tradition of Russiaâs great family novels, the story encompasses the history of two families. Their lives raise profound questions about family heritage and genetics, nurture and nature, and life and death. Not an easy subject to visualize, but we decided on this: Â
A totally different kind of book, this next novelâs narrator âcouldnât stop turning and looking at the âbad boyââ:Â
In working on scholarly covers, Iâve found that one option is to visualize literally what the book is aboutâthe subject matter, the mood, the timingâall to help to reflect its content.
Another option with scholarly titles that donât lend themselves easily to being communicated visually is to use nondescriptive art:
Crossover books present a different sort of issueâa cover design that looks less scholarly than the content actually is. Acquisitions has rejected covers because of this. Here is one that made it through:
MJ: With a lot of interior templates in place, I miss the opportunity to customize interiors. Occasionally a book like Harold or Chicago and Its Botanic Garden comes along, and I can expand the cover concept to the interior.Â
What are some of your favorite covers that youâve worked on at Northwestern University Press?
MJ:Â Millennium Park Chicago, by Cheryl Kent
My Sax Life, by Paquito D'Rivera
Red Army Red, by Jehanne Dubrow
This post is part of the 2015 university press week blog tour. To read more about university press design, check out Princeton University Press, MIT Press, University Press of Kansas, Georgetown University Press, Syracuse University Press, Stanford University Press, Harvard University Press, Athabasca University Press, and Yale University Press.Â
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