Do you ever wonder who helps put the creative spin on all of our wonderful nonfiction titles? Well, today is your lucky day! I thought it might be fun for you to meet our designers and hear about their favorite project.
Tracy Davies
One of my favorite series to work on was definitely Captured History. This series was a little different than any of the others I had previously worked on. The goal for the look and feel of these photo-driven books was just that—to capture the power and emotion of a photo and the related photos to the event, to tell its story. Each of the six titles were unique and their stories and photos individually impactful. Migrant Mother, Raising the Flag, Man on the Moon, Birmingham 1963, Breaker Boys and Little Rock Girl were all events I was familiar with, but while working on these, reading their stories and studying the images, I was completely enthralled in these remarkable events in our American History. I found it amazing how a photo could have such an impact on how we see and relate to one particular event. I was definitely proud to have the privilege to design these titles.
Lori Bye
The Other Side of the Story (coming in July), a twist on classic stories now told and illustrated from a different point of view, is my favorite. The stories and illustrations are humorous and it teaches children to look at things from a different angle. Titles include retellings of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Jack and Beanstalk, Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood.
Sarah Bennett
I’m new to the design team! I’ve spent many years in educational publishing designing textbooks, teacher editions, workbooks, etc., and I’m looking forward to a new challenge of designing school library books. I’m also super happy to be here and am inspired by the amazing creativity of my fellow designers.
Bobbie Nuytten
It’s really hard for me to pick just one, but the first that comes to mind is Pebble’s How Fruits and Vegetables Grow. It was so fun to design, and some of the photos in the interior are from my garden!
Ted Williams
Hello! My name is Ted Williams (not related to the baseball player) and I’ve been with Capstone almost seven years now. Out of all my seasons of crafting children’s books, I would have to say I liked working on our Edge Dragons set the most. Growing up I always liked dinosaurs and other odd-looking creatures. To me this was a fun chance to design a series of books with my own style and taste on the subject. I was also able to work with a local illustrator who had come right out of college to collaborate and make something that he and I were proud of. Be sure to check it out, if you're not too scared of the subject matter!
Gene Bentdahl
One set I enjoyed working on recently were the mechanical board books from the Whose Is It set. It was a challenge getting the artwork to line up and rotate correctly but I learned a lot on the inner workings of this type of board book.
Heidi Thompson
My favorite set was Compass Point Civil War series. I have a tendency to gravitate towards clean, uncluttered design. We have quite a few history and war books so I was very happy with how this set stands out from the rest.
Veronica Correia
My favorite set was the Unusual Histories (Velocity). Velocity is a great brand to work because each page needs its own layout and style. The very unusual content of each book made the Unusual Histories an extremely fun set to design.
Nathan Gassman
I’ve enjoyed working on the Legend Has It series because of the amazing artwork we’ve gotten for the set. Legend of the Werewolf is a great example. D.C. Ice’s fantastic illustrations were intense and scary, but they have a comic element so the reader doesn’t get too scared.
Alison Thiele
My favorite was Fact Finders: Extreme Life. The set looked at the many different and amazing forms life can take (animals with no eyes, meat-eating plants, poop-eating bugs, etc). It was fantastic learning about such cool topics and coming up with a design to match. Surviving Death Valley: Desert Adaptation earned the Graphic Design USA In-house Design Award in 2008, which I am also very proud of.
Kyle Grenz
Working on the Dinosaur Wars set was a treat for me.
As a fan of dinosaurs, I have had some of these fights played out in my mind, but it was fun to match up some of the strengths and weaknesses that would factor into the battle. It was kind of a stretch for nonfiction since the two dinos that were facing each other were from different eras.
The writing was fantastic, colorful and engaging.
The illustrator that did the battle scenes really put in some great action and lighting, making them that much more dramatic and intense.
Juliette Peters
Picking a favorite set is tough. The Halloween Extreme set in Edge was a riot to work on. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays for sure! I really like how the design elements in the Snap Books set Green Crafts turned out. But one that comes to mind right now as a favorite is the Fun Food for Cool Cooks set in Snap. Even though the recipes are fun, styling the food and setting up the shots was even more fun for me! I have a huge interest in food styling. I will be working on another Snap set that will require food styling for next season. I can’t wait to get in the studio to start on it!
Ashlee Suker
And then there’s me! I realized after I started compiling these entries that I don’t even know what my own favorite is. There are so many to choose from. The first that comes to mind would be The Holocaust from Compass Point. Although an extremely sad topic, you can’t help but get pulled into the intense stories. Designing for such a sensitive topic was also a challenge that I really enjoyed. I do have to throw one other series out there that will always stick out as one of my favorites—Headline Science. It was the first series in which I got to be involved in the complete design process. I still look at them and feel very proud that I was a part of them!
