AD Erin Kirk of The University of Georgia Press reached out to me in 2022 to work on the cover design for their new series, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. This series “engages contemporary social issues in a meaningful way, advocating intervention and action in social justice and social transformation.” Our goal was to create a cover design that could encapsulate a broad range of sociological topics in a fresh and modern way. 

My first challenge was the wide range of text that could be featured on the covers. The book’s title or subtitle could be as short as one word or as long as ten (if there is a subtitle featured at all), as well as the chance of featuring more than one author. It also needed to incorporate room for supporting lines, such as translations. In short, the design needed to be incredibly flexible in order to accommodate all future variations that may arise.

My second challenge was the imagery, which could come in any format and from a variety of sources. Whether it was a photograph or a painting, low or high resolution, vertical or horizontal, a one-size-fits-all space or box would not be easy to work with. 

The chosen direction features a clean, broad design with plenty of white space, letting the text dictate the design’s final layout and the potential size of the halftone image. The author names and supporting information run along the side, increasing the amount of space for the design while still remaining legible. A bright, engaging color palette adds energy to the design and creates an unlimited amount of color pairings for future titles.