Introducing our book cover designer, Tess McCabe. We asked her five questions.
Tell us a little about you and your work?
I'm an independent graphic designer specialising in book design and website design. The majority of my clients are small business owners (like Amba Press!), individuals who are self-publishing, or people who have a side business or passion project they want to see come to life. My clients span a wide range of industries, but I actually began my career at Wiley, a large educational publisher. Design for education has always been a throughline in my career, and it gels well with my problem-solving brain! I also have a micro publishing imprint of my own, Creative Minds, where I publish books and resources for creative professionals. It’s all great – I really love my job.
A year in, how's it going with Amba Press?
I'm certain I manifested Amba Press early last year, when I started thinking that I would like to work with another non-fiction publisher for book cover design. (Is that how the algorithm works now!?). Alicia approached me through a recommendation from another long-time publishing client, and we hit it off fairly quickly. I love it when clients have good systems and processes, appreciate good design, and are willing to work collaboratively to get the best 'product' to the people. Amba Press really know their stuff in the education space and I love Alicia's enthusiasm for her community of teachers and educators.
What's your favourite part of designing book covers?
The restriction of the book cover rectangle, and the magic that can be made within it from a combination of image, colour and type. I like playing with unexpected colour combinations and and I never tire of seeing the books out in the world!
When you are not being a creative genius, what do you do with your time?
I live in Brunswick in Melbourne which is a haven of food, art, music, bike riding, and thrift shopping – basically, all of my favourite things outside of design!
We know you like a podcast, what's your top 3 recommendations?
It’s true, I do love podcasts! If Books Could Kill often makes me laugh out loud, as it dives deep into the backstories of ‘airport literature’ titles and how they have influenced modern culture.
Fiona Killackey’s My Daily Business podcast is great for interviews with fellow small business owners and tips for small business marketing.
And I also enjoy Everything is Fine, The Imperfects, How Other Dads Dad, and Death, Sex and Money for their honest interviews about big life topics. It helps to put the day-to-day of business ownership, design and writing into perspective!
