Good Job — book design

You ever have the experience when a timely, significant, necessary project comes together? If not, I hope you do have that in your life and career — at least once, and hopefully several many times.

For me, it’s been quite some time since such a highly collaborative project materialized. And a while, too, since I designed a book cover to cover. (I still remember all my InDesign shortcuts!) Selecting the body and header typefaces that appropriately capture the voice of the author is one of my favorite things to do, ever. There were iterations on page size, margins, running headers, and type. Once we really got into it and extremely adorable illustrations were incorporated into chapter opener pages, we dropped using drop caps. I was even obsessing over it in the middle of the night when I should’ve been sleeping (actually true) and coming up with fresh fun ideas for section placement. I mean, how many books have you seen that are two-sided — with acknowledgments as a centerfold?! Self-publishing rules! 🤘🏻

This kind of highly collaborative, detailed work started when Margo overlapped at Twitter; she was one of the content strategists in the Product Design team. We sat next to each other during one reorg. We lived near each other in the Mission. There were dinner parties, game nights, and cat sitting. Years later, while I was still a Chair at CCA, I invited her to teach the Story course; other Story faculty are quoted in the book. And years after that, she approached me with the opportunity to design her first book — well before learning its snappy title. I said yes immediately.

It’s a truism that collaborating openly and generatively with someone you trust makes the work better. This resonates especially deeply for a two-sided book about interviewing — especially since the current job market absolutely deserves deep and mutual understanding between candidates and companies. Today’s candidates evaluate employers as rigorously as they’re being evaluated — one of my coaching clients rightfully said he’s on an “employer search” — heck yes to that ✊🏻 — yet most hiring processes remain curiously one-sided. Rebalancing the responsibility for successful matches while building mutual empathy is core to the ethos of my current business, PeopleWork. I support both candidates and clients in moving beyond transactional recruiting, and towards purpose-driven and authentic relationships where everyone feels genuinely heard and valued — exactly the kind of collaborative partnership Margo and I had in creating this book.

Order your copy at Bookshop.org.