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, Design Observer, The Academy of British Cover Design and the World Illustration Awards. James is also the illustrator of several picture books including The Perfect Fit, One More Try and The Odd Fish. To see James’ work head to his website at jamesjonesbookdesign.com, or follow him on twitter and instagram. To follow James and his wife Naomi’s picture book work be sure to follow @naomiandjamesjones on Instagram where there’s regular updates on their work together. For something a bit different, we spoke in passing about James’ latest project Wildsole sandals – a newly formed barefoot adventure sandal company. If you’d like to find out more, visit wildsolesandals.com where you can also get 10% off any purchases using the discount code COVERMEETING. Links and details are in the show notes. Follow Cover Meeting on Twitter, Instagram and now Threads @CoverMeetingPod for news about upcoming episodes. Cover Meeting was hosted by Steve Leard and produced by James Ede of beheard.org.uk.

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 publishing in 2022, she has almost a decade of experience in her field working for both Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, before venturing into the world of freelancing in 2018. She currently works on projects in collaboration with most of the big publishing houses worldwide. Her work is characterized by a unique blend of creativity and artistry, shaped by her love of travel, mixed cultural heritage, and appreciation of the fine arts. In the episode we talk about life as a freelancer, the process behind creating covers and the research that goes into it, artificial intelligence and it's potential impact on book cover design and publishing and publishing's diversity problem. You can read Micaela's recent article on artificial intelligence here. Micaela also mention DPI when we were discussing the lack of diversity in publishing. DPI as an impactful mentorship initiative based in the UK for under-represented creatives and have assembled leading designers across the publishing industry as mentors. Their mission is supporting creatives from under-represented groups to develop the skills and acumen to pursue a career in the world of book design, while also offering existing designers in the industry advice on career progression. Visit their website to find out more. Cover Meeting was hosted by Steve Leard and produced by James Ede of beheard.org.uk.

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 Internationale (AGI) and in 2015 he was appointed Royal Designer for Industry, the highest accolade for designers in the UK. To see David’s work head to his website at typeasimage.com, or follow him on twitter and instagram @typeasimage. In 2023 David also launched The Book Cover Review, a new website with reviews of beloved book covers – both new and old – from a range of voices around the world.    Follow Cover Meeting on Twitter, Instagram and now Threads @CoverMeetingPod for news about upcoming episodes. Cover Meeting was hosted by Steve Leard and produced by James Ede of beheard.org.uk.