Something really cool is happening in the world of art/design & romance/sexual wellness! After noticing a heavy stream of fantastically refreshing romance novel covers, I did a bit of digging and stumbled across an article on Refinery29 by Elena Nicolaou about Berkley Publishing who she credits with launching a change in the romance media arena. Over the past year Berkley, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, published a series of supremely illustrated “Instagrammable” covers, often made by women for women. Emily Osborne, the associate art director at Penguin Random House says, “These covers are more complex and indicate a broad sense of what romance is. They’re complicated. The books aren’t just about the romance.” While the stories might still center around romantic and sexual fulfillment, they are more like romcom movies than old-school romance novels; the narratives feature people seeking equitable partnership in the modern day and require book covers that underline that. This visual trend is growing and includes this gorgeous paperback coming out in June by Snyder New York’s Carolina Melis for “The Dinner List” published by Flatiron Books, written by Bebecca Serle. Meanwhile Dipsea just launched! Lonny Mag calls the app, “The Design-Forward Storytelling App We Need” in an article by Shelby Wax. Dipsea is an app for sexy audio stories that features content catered to modern women. The app produces short narratives that enable women to tap into their sexuality while incorporating artwork to help the viewer put themselves into each scene. Snyder New York’s Neryl Walker created a few beautiful illustrations for some of these narratives! Dipsea Co-founder and CEO Gina Gutierrez says, “We’d like to become the destination for sexual wellness — an obvious answer for where to go to tap into your sexuality accessibly and on your own terms.” Really proud to be a part of such a great creative community and excited to see where this leads. Illustrations clockwise by Carolina Melis, Refinery29, Neryl Walker, & Dipsea.
https://r29.co/2QJKOWx
https://bit.ly/2UbC5mi
