{"id":17183,"date":"2021-01-29T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecreativeindependent.com\/people\/illustrator-and-art-director-na-kim-on-good-design-avoiding-trends-and-staying-creatively-engaged"},"modified":"2021-01-29T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T08:00:00","slug":"illustrator-and-art-director-na-kim-on-good-design-avoiding-trends-and-staying-creatively-engaged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/29\/illustrator-and-art-director-na-kim-on-good-design-avoiding-trends-and-staying-creatively-engaged\/","title":{"rendered":"Illustrator and art director Na Kim on good design, avoiding trends, and staying creatively engaged"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a designer, what\u2019s your definition of a successful book cover?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Success is when everyone\u2019s happy: the editor, the publisher, the author. We\u2019re designing books a year ahead of when they\u2019re released, so if I can still be really happy with the book when it comes out? Then I\u2019ve done a good job.<\/p>\n\n

Given that lead time, how much of your job is forecasting design trends?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

A lot. When publishers see one successful cover they want to follow that formula. But they forget that it\u2019s probably going to be played out by the time it comes out. People usually don\u2019t want to take risks with books they want to succeed, so I\u2019m always thinking, How do I make it feel new, but also not scare editors into thinking that nobody will buy it because it looks different? How do I make it feel new and relatable at the same time?<\/em><\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s crazy because there are these trends in book covers where people see one big cover and they want everything to look like that for years, you know? Like the big type with the patterned background. I think Instagram is definitely responsible for a lot of that. People are like, \u201cOh, this is like, \u2018grammable.\u201d \u201cOh, big type patterns, blah, blah, blah.\u201d If I see five books with the same color palette or the same type layout or something, I know, Okay let\u2019s not do that<\/em>. Even with my own work, if too many of my colors look the same I\u2019ll try to be conscious of using different colors, but I won\u2019t put that above making something reflective of what\u2019s inside the book. Function comes before form\u2014when you get both I think that\u2019s when it comes closest to being successful.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"KIm1.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Kim2.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Design-wise, what are you looking for when you read book manuscripts or drafts? Is it the general feeling of the text? Or a particular scene? For example, you\u2019ve said<\/a> that you wanted your cover for Mike Roberts\u2019s Cannibals in Love<\/em> to embody a particular line from the book, in which the main character, an aspiring novelist, wants his book to \u201cexpress those negative spaces between two bodies, where the relationship breathes\u2026 belly-to-belly with the intimacy of a stabbing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I think for fiction, yeah. If there\u2019s a line I particularly like or that captures the overall mood of the book, then I\u2019ll save it or underline it and keep it for later, as something to think about. Laura van den Berg is another example of that, where in one of her stories there is a hyper-realistic marzipan cake decorated as a sheep, and I just thought the imagery so vividly contrasted with the title [I Hold a Wolf by The Ears<\/em>]. So the cover is a way of referencing that without being too literal. And the way she wrote about the town, it was almost like a satirical painting. So sometimes the language really lends itself to visual imagery. Even if it\u2019s not of a specific image, just the mood and the tone of the book can really carry into good visual representation. I\u2019ll usually have one idea in the beginning, like something that really, really sticks in my mind, and I\u2019ll start by executing that and let that kind of lead to other ideas as it develops.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Kim3.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

On average, how many books do you read per year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I think it\u2019s easier to break down by season, because that\u2019s usually the schedule we work off of. So I would say maybe like 15 to 20 per season, including my freelance projects.<\/p>\n\n

Wow, so between 60 and 80 books a year?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s a lot of books, yeah. I rarely get to read stuff outside of what I\u2019m working on.<\/p>\n\n

How important is it that you like the books you\u2019re designing covers for?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I mean, it definitely helps. Even if you don\u2019t mean for it to, in some way or another you\u2019re subconsciously judging the value of the book, and if you think it\u2019s bad it\u2019s going to be hard for you to give it a good cover. I\u2019m not saying it ends up that way. But I think it\u2019s something that you need to be conscious of. But sometimes horrible books have great covers too. There\u2019s also just a lot of bad covers out there. And some of them are mine.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

You\u2019ve written<\/a> about the time your boss asked you, while you were struggling with designing the cover for Jefferey Euginides\u2019s Fresh Complaint<\/em>: \u201cAre you actually thinking about this book? Or are you just trying to make something cool?<\/em>\u201d And how that question forced you to confront your own narcissism. What are some of the questions you ask yourself before starting a project?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Why was I chosen to work on this book? Did they hire me for my sensibility? Or were they looking at my illustrations? Did they like some nonfiction covers that I did? So asking myself why I might\u2019ve been picked for this project is a good place to start.<\/span> Especially for any freelance covers, I\u2019ll usually ask for references of my past work that made them want to hire me for this job, so that I get a better sense of what I should be bringing. Because my work varies quite a bit in terms of style or whatever, so that helps me narrow it down.<\/p>\n\n

\"Kim4.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

A question that I ask the editors is, \u201cIf you could sum this book up in three words, what would they be?\u201d I think that\u2019s a good way to narrow it down without giving me a specific idea, because when editors already have an idea of what [the cover] should be in their heads they\u2019re less open to your interpretation. \u201cWho is this book for?\u201d<\/span> is another good question. Like who\u2019s the audience? Is this for someone like me, or is it for someone older or younger or cooler? And then I always try to remind myself that I\u2019m getting paid to do this, you know?<\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s a job.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

It helps to have that dollar sign in front of it and be like, Okay, this is supposed to be work. Not just doing whatever the fuck I want.<\/em> I mean, we\u2019re providing a service, you know? We are there for other people. Design is not always a self-gratifying art.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Do you have any tendencies as a designer that you find yourself actively fighting against?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Sure. Because I have a background in illustration, one issue I had in the beginning is that illustration was the easiest solution for all my covers. Or hand lettering. My art director Rodrigo Corral really helped push me not to do that. There are obviously things that are easier or come more naturally to me, so just relying on anything is always something I have to fight against. You have to evolve and try things you might be bad at in order to get new results.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

You\u2019ve mentioned stumbling into your career as a book cover designer with \u201ca little luck and a lot of help.\u201d Was there a point along your journey from bartending to interning at Bloomsbury to working your way up to an art director when you realized, \u201cOh, I actually might be good at this thing?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I don\u2019t know. Every year I\u2019m like, \u201cWow, I\u2019m not going to have any good covers this year. I suck now.\u201d So I don\u2019t think that I ever feel like, \u201cWow, I\u2019m really good at this.\u201d And I\u2019m not trying to be humble or whatever, I just think that it\u2019s really, really easy to do a bad job, you know? So it\u2019s just always there, the chance of being bad at it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Kim5.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Is it one of those things where every new project feels you\u2019re starting from nothing?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I wouldn\u2019t say it feels like I\u2019m starting from nothing. I think that the longer you do it, the more comfortable you get, and the chances of becoming complacent get higher. And it\u2019s something I\u2019m wary of. There are definitely moments, like those books that may not interest me as much, where I\u2019m like, Okay, I know the formula for this. I can call it in and be done with it.<\/em> Or I can actually try to put in the work and do a good job.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

There\u2019s also so many factors that go into if a book cover is good or not. There are tons of people who create really great covers, but they just never get approved because of where they work, or who the editor is, or maybe the sales team didn\u2019t like it, or maybe it wasn\u2019t pitched the right way. There\u2019s so many places where it can go wrong<\/span> and if that happens to you too many times, you start to design around what they want, and that always messes up your outcome of having a good jacket.<\/p>\n\n

You\u2019re working within a system.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Exactly. I feel lucky that I work somewhere where there\u2019s a lot of trust between the editors and the authors and the art department, so there\u2019s less room for me to make work that isn\u2019t appreciated or at least considered. I think that opens up more space to take design risks.<\/p>\n\n

How long does it typically take you to design a cover?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

After the conversation with the editor, we usually take about two weeks to design something. That\u2019s when they expect to see a first round. But there are times where I\u2019ve designed covers in hours and have been done in a day, and then other times that I\u2019ve worked on a cover for like six months.<\/p>\n\n

How many different concepts do you present?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

For freelance covers it\u2019s different because you don\u2019t know the editors personally and there\u2019s not a level of trust built-in, so I\u2019ll send five to seven concepts. Whereas in-house, I can go to the editor and say \u201cI have this idea, I think this is the way it should be,\u201d and show them one cover. And if it works it works.<\/p>\n\n

\"Kim6.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

At this point, are you pretty good at knowing when a particular cover is going to be approved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I never know. I think the last part is always the author. We care very much about them being happy.<\/p>\n\n

Have you ever experienced imposter syndrome?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Everyday.<\/p>\n\n

Does it get easier?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

No. And nothing\u2019s ever enough. But maybe that\u2019s on me. I feel like fear is my biggest motivator.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Kim9.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

What are you afraid of?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Um, I don\u2019t know. Having nothing again. I mean I\u2019ve based my whole life on survival. So even though everyone\u2019s like, \u201cOh, you\u2019re fine. Nothing\u2019s going to happen.\u201d Then it\u2019s like, \u201cOkay, guess what just happened? A fucking pandemic.\u201d This is what I\u2019ve been preparing for my whole fucking life. Because it\u2019s true, everything can be taken away on a whim. All at once. So I try to remember that I always have to work hard no matter what. I can\u2019t be comfortable.<\/span> It\u2019s 100% fear. Like basically there is no option for failure. It\u2019s a punishing way to live.<\/p>\n\n

In addition to your full-time job you regularly take on freelance book covers for other publishers, as well as freelance editorial work for clients like The New York Times<\/em> and the New Yorker<\/em>. How do you avoid burnout?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I have a pretty strict rule about not doing any work on the weekends. Obviously, with editorial illustrations, there\u2019s a tight turnaround so I have to break that rule from time to time. But I want to say in the last three or four years I don\u2019t work weekends, even if that means working a little bit later each weekday. Also, I work pretty quickly in terms of executing. I spend a lot more time thinking<\/em> about the work than sitting in front of a computer, which helps me.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

When you say you\u2019re \u201cthinking about the work,\u201d does that just mean as you\u2019re living your life? Like a sort of prompt that you\u2019re carrying with you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Yeah, I\u2019ll just be thinking about it throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n

How does maintaining a practice around making personal work inform your role as a designer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

I try to approach it on a smaller scale. It should be fun. I\u2019m rarely like, Okay, today\u2019s the day I\u2019m going to make personal work.<\/em> It\u2019s more like, Okay, I have an idea<\/em>. Or usually at the end of the work day I\u2019ll be like, Okay, I have some little thoughts left. Let\u2019s do this.<\/em> So even if it\u2019s an hour in one week or five minutes at the end of each day, I take time to make something for myself. Even if no one sees it or if it\u2019s complete poo poo, I still think that the exercise is really valuable to me. And I feel like I share more of that work than I do my professional work. I also feel like a lot of times the personal work leads to more work anyway.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

How so?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

It\u2019s like I was saying earlier about unapproved covers that are great that no one sees: when there\u2019s no pressure, it\u2019s a lot easier to make something good and a little more true<\/span>, if that makes sense. Especially with Instagram and stuff like that, people only have the attention span of a second. So if they\u2019re scrolling and they see something and it makes them think something or feel something or connect to something, I think that people respond to that a little bit more.<\/p>\n\n

\"Kim7.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\"Kim8.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

I was first introduced to your work in the early days of Tumblr<\/a>, where you were doing these sort of diaristic illustrations and paintings that reflected a certain mood or feeling or state of mind.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

That also coincided with my single life. My single life in my early twenties. So I mean it\u2019s definitely really, really emo. But emo really thrives on Tumblr. That\u2019s the kind of work I wanted to make at the time. This is before I had any kind of career or whatever. I wasn\u2019t getting hired to make anything, so I was like, Okay, I\u2019ll still make it and put it out there.<\/em> Someone will laugh about it, you know?<\/span> I didn\u2019t give a fuck. I had nothing to lose.<\/p>\n\n

Did it help you feel connected to an artistic community in some way?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Yeah, I mean I guess Tumblr was the prototype for Instagram, so that\u2019s where I was posting my work. To at least get it out there. I think it made me feel less shy about sharing my work. What I appreciate about Instagram is that it takes the preciousness out of it. You\u2019re not like, Oh my God, this is a beautiful piece of art.<\/em> You just kind of learn to let it go and move on. And I think Tumblr was where I learned to do that.<\/p>\n\n

What\u2019s the story behind Panolo Blahnik<\/a>, a collection of bread shoes you make and shoot with your co-worker June Park?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Our office is in the Financial District and the food options there are absolute trash. Everything\u2019s a bowl. So it just got really depressing, and there\u2019s this place in our building where basically the whole company gets lunch, and it\u2019s just so sad. They give you free bread sticks so I was just trying to cheer June up by, you know, sticking a fork in and pretended the breadsticks were little dancing shoes. And that\u2019s how Bread Shoes started. I was just playing with my food.<\/p>\n\n

I mean it\u2019s a good visual practice. And it\u2019s nice to just get excited about something, you know? I feel like there are a lot of artists who do this all the time, like Christoph Neimann is a really good example. He\u2019ll look at a fucking croissant and then turn it into a telephone booth or something. He can just see past what\u2019s in front of him and abstract everyday things into different images. I just think being interdisciplinary is a good thing, especially as a designer. And it\u2019s fun. You just want to have fun making work. And if you have side projects where you can have fun, I feel like it takes the burden off of your day job, of being like, \u201cOh, I don\u2019t feel fulfilled by this, blah blah, blah<\/em>.\u201d You can just take it for what it is and be grateful you\u2019re getting paid to do something you\u2019re good at.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Kim10.jpg\"<\/p>\n\n

<\/em><\/p>\n\n

\n\n

Na Kim Recommends:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Medicare for All.
<\/p>\n\n

Laura Van den Berg\u2019s I Hold a Wolf by the Ears.<\/a><\/em>
<\/p>\n\n

Bryan Washington\u2019s writing on food<\/a>.
<\/p>\n\n

Listen to your body.
<\/p>\n\n

The Hours<\/a><\/em> soundtrack.
<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This post was originally published on The Creative Independent<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a designer, what\u2019s your definition of a successful book cover?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1357,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1219],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17183"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17183"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17184,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17183\/revisions\/17184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}