All Access:

The book that I'm starting out with this week is
All Access: The Making of Thirty Extraordinary Graphic Designers
by Stefan Bucher


I was not able to read every story, but I did get a great taste of some really great work and I selected 4 designers that I wanted to talk about.

1_ Neal Ashby

At 25, he went to the Recording Industry Associate of America (RIAA) and told them they needed a creative director position and was hired. For 10 years he worked there and did a lot of annual reports, but also came up with the Parental Advisory label we are all familiar with.

I really just liked the simplicity he created while still having fun. 

And I feel like he experimented with a variety of styles.

He said that there were three options for what you want/are looking for by becoming a designer:

1_You could make a lot of money

2_You could become famous, respected as a designer by your peers

3_You are content. you have a short commute, you work with nice people, and while you're not setting the world on fire with design greatness or making a shitload of money, you are content.

2_Evan Gaffney

Through Fine Arts in school, Gaffney eventually ended up at Penguin USA where he really fell in love with book cover design and learned a great deal from others who worked there. He then went to St. Martin's Press and eventually, became a freelancer. 

As a freelancer he got work that no one else wanted- self-help, military thrillers, romances, but he decided on the style of "Whatever It Takes" and tackled everything he was given. 

He then began working for Knopf and is also a teacher at Parsons in a book cover design class.

"I love design that is out there participating in the culture. Designers are so trained to think outside of the box they design around the projects rather than for them. My goal is for my designs to be distilled down to their most essential parts so that their effect is inevitable- not minimalism, but pragmatism."

I'm very seriously considering a career in book cover design so I love when cover designers are recognized for the design they are doing. :)

3_Hjalti Karlsson & Jan Wilker

Both working for Stefan Sagmeister, they left to start their own firm, following the ideals of the idea along with fun and a humor for the english language from the foreigner's point of view.

4_Camilla BenBassat

I loved reading about her long trips to Florence, Tel Aviv, Egypt, Eastern Europe and finally London. Every place impacted her and her design. Her designs are clean and strong and I feel like it's clear that she has a more open look with her design because of her travels. 

Overall, this was a fantastic book and I just love to see so much originality and success in so many different forms. Feels good to be able to be a part of all of this.