Greg Designs the Cover of a Book

Getting briefed

'I get do to whatever I choose that the cover demands. I'll get a new project from my editor and I'll listen to them talk about the book. I'll then receive a written brief, which tells me all kind of information: who the characters are, what the time period is. I'll go away from that and try to do 20/30 designs. They might be illustration, photography, or topographic.'

Eureka!

I never realised you could make a living as an artist within publishing. I did GSCESs and A Levels in art and did a degree. I took a job as a bookseller and one day I had an eureka moment where I saw a table full of big beautiful books, looked at them and thought 'Oh my god. Someone does this for a living! That could be me.''

Interpretation

'I love reading, designing and illustrating and creating my interpretation of an author's words. It's something I find really exciting.'