Oh hey there!

Erm, yea I'm still around...and now new and improved!

Last December I started working in the Art Department, it's been a heck of a switch. Sometimes I feel like I'm going a bit backwards, removing myself from all things digital and returning to print media seems weird. But I've enjoyed learning (re-learning) what it takes to make a tangible object—but boy does it take a long time to produce a book! Even though I've been working since January I've only had one book come out in stores so far. As you can imagine it was a rather happy occasion:

Humid day, lay off the hair jokes.

That's me at the Barnes and Nobel in Mid-town with my first cover, Secret Circle: The Divide. I got thrown into this photo shoot the first week of work, and quickly got used to the craft services table. Not to mention the best (and nicest) photographer around. Plus models, make up artists, wardrobe fittings...print rules!

Since that photo shoot I've continued to work with amazing photographers, illustrators, handletterers (that's a term, right?) digital retouchers, art directors, creative directors, models—did I mention the authors?! Don't believe it, check out the pen names on the following (still unavailable, but ya'll should grab 'em this fall!) sweet projects:

Oh you read that correctly friend, NEIL GAIMAN.

Iacapo Bruno and Lauren Oliver?! I mean give me a break...beautiful illustration, amazing story.

I can't get over this series, I'm so jealous I'm not a 12 year old boy.

And of course the series all of you already pre-ordered on your favorite indie book seller internets:

So that's what I've been up to for the past few months. It's been a challenge, naturally. But there's something about the control and say I have in these projects I really enjoy. It's a bit overwhelming—I'm still on a learning curve. I'm not 100% sure this is the total fit, but I just got next season's list and it's just too good to be true:

Ramona Quimby reprints—Beverly Cleary.

If you would have told me this when I was 8 years old reading Ribsy in the back of my mom's powdered blue Chevy Nova without A/C in the parking lot of Michigan's Goff's grocery store (I truly remember this moment) I would have called you liar and pushed up my glasses in contempt. The first book I remember truly loving was The Giving Tree but people read me that book. I could read Ralph S. Mouse and Henry Huggins on my own and it was glorious...

I mean really.

If you want to check out more covers I'm on Behanced.

Kisses!

Sarah

Lovetorn

OMGosh I love this book trailer. I know it's super tacky to pump my own business here but it's just so cute! I got to work with an extremely awesome Senior Marketing Associate on this and I have to admit, when you work with someone who is like our friend Alana, good things happen.

I assembled the vector graphics in Illustrator (some are stock image, shh!) and then animated them in Flash. Finally our titles and transitions come in through good old iMovie. Soundtrack provided by the fine people at shockwave sounds and BAM! you got yourself a lovely book trailer.

For some silly reason I can't embed the video here, rats! It's worth the extra click thru, trust me!

I'll miss my time with Harper's Integrated Marketing Department. I got to do some really cool things there (see above). I also know that I wouldn't have learned all that I did in any other publishing house. Is this my little swan song to the last four years? More like the last showcase of a job I really, really, really enjoyed.

xo

Where have you been?

Well let me tell you! I wanted to end my Marketing Design posts with an uber cool video I did for a book called LoveTorn. I thought to myself, how awesome would this be? I could show my last hoorah of digital design and then plow right into what I think is super rad: my new job as a Art Department cover designer. Ah how young and naive we were back in November.

I'm such an awesome worker I finished that book trailer way before the book will pub, which should be coming out later this month. So I can't put the video up—all three of you readers would just ruin it for everyone by reposting to your own blogs and social media sites. So let's do a good old fashioned teaser shall we? What better way to say goodbye to marketing?

Whenever I start a new project (digital or print) I always like to pick out a theme of colors that will be great for the project and anything that might surround it in the future. How will these colors look on a screen that has moving images? How will they look printed? And what are the HEX/RGB equivalents— Will I burn someone's eyes out, and if so, would that be a bad thing?

In LoveTorn our heroine is from India and moves to LA for some reason or another that I'm a bit unsure of. But how fun is India? What a great potential color palette to explore:

Click me to enlarge.

Since this project will be moving images (fancy that, a moving picture show!) we get to story board. It'll be hard to believe I'm not a professional illustrator when you see this ever so logical and professional looking story board. 

Click me to enlarge.

This story board combined with our script, provided by one of the very apt and fun Marketing teams, becomes a book trailer. But just how that magic happens is for another post later. Have I hooked you? Didn't think so. But you have to trust me it's cool.

Blue (thanksgiving) Hawaii.

Ah. Home. You know how people complain about air travel? Well I'm one anyway. I complain about flying like it's the worst thing in the whole wide world! Yesterday it took me 20 hours to get home from Kona, Hawaii. And guess what? I didn't complain once, because that vacation was just that awesome! Maybe my brother will have a different recollection on my non-complaining...but he's not here to say otherwise. :)

Ok so it's a bit weird to still go on family vacations when you're 31 years old. But guess what? I like my family and they go to awesome places! Plus, it helps when Mom foots the majority of the bill, talk about a giver. (Mom shout out!) So in chronological order, here's my Hawaiian vacation, iMovie style. We start in Honolulu where Angie bottles her own wine, we visit some penguins, and eat at Morimoto. In the Kona area we swim, snorkel with sea turtles, drink a lot, eat all the fishes in the sea, and befriend a malformed donkey. Enjoy!

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I'm hoping to keep this aloha spirt around for a while. Maybe I can take in some of these colors, attitudes, and vibes into my work and design. Oh, speaking of... I got a new job! In a few weeks I'm moving to HarperCollin's Art Department, working on Middle Grade and YA covers. I'm nervous but I think we've got a good aloha feelin' going on in that department. Overall, a great start to a very thankful-filled holiday season.

Autumn

I love Fall in New York. I dare you to find someone who doesn't (if they do this person is clearly a Debbie Downer and should be avoided at most costs).

The colors in the parks in this city are outrageous and are inspirational for all things autumnal. But you know what's even more awe inspiring? Leaving the city. Head up to the Hudson River Valley!

Maybe you go for a day hike, those are nice. Or maybe you find a company that specializes in night time hikes, complete with meteorshowers and star gazing. And maybe this is is the last thing you see before everything turns pitch black—only to be illuminated by the awesome bright-as-a-city-skyline moon. Love.

And now to be a complete jerk, I must pack my bags for Hawaii. Volcanoes, beaches, family and poi, these are few of my new favorite Autumn-inspired things.

Muse fail

I just returned from a Nobel Desk top seminar titled Moving from Print to Web. This might end up being the most ironic part of this post, but more on that as things develop. (Foreshadowing!)

So while this was definitely an intro course and I knew a lot of the information, we did touch on the difference in web site construction and website layouts. Yea, no one likes Muse. It doesn't load properly and its code is crap. That being said, we're still Beta form so I have high hopes for it. Lord knows it would make my life easier.

But like I've heard 1,000 times before there is no magic "web site made!" button. This is also hilarious because I'm fairly sure that 40% of my own job complaints centers around the same argument—sure I can change this skyscraper Flash ad into a banner...it just takes a second! (Sarcasm!)

Oh speaking of Flash, Adobe abandoned it for mobile platforms, nice. So next up, old school html.

Adobe Muse

Remember when I said I was using this blog to help me explore transitioning from print to digital design? Somehow I missed the fact that the good people at Adobe have made it really, really easy. So thanks Adobe Labs! Muse is pretty much it—guess we're done here. ;)

I can not wait to use my interactive skillz on this! It's pretty much similar to the web functions and updates on InDesign CS5. I'm exploring it with Lynda.com's quick tutorial right now. If you're a member I highly suggest checking it out.

Oh and since Muse is in Beta, it's free. Onward in exploration and inspiration my friends!

I love learning new things.

Lynda and Adobe labs = Happy Sarah.