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65: Inside the Art Department with Art Director Brian LaRossa

5/27/2024

2 Comments

 
We're back from hiatus with special guest Brian LaRossa, who in addition to being an Executive Art Director at Scholastic, is an educator, pizza-maker, and all-around mensch. We tackle a variety of topics, like what IS an Art Director, how does the Art Department work with illustrators, what role do they play in the acquisitions process, how do typography and design affect the reading experience, and a whole lot more. It was a fun conversation, I learned a ton, and I hope you will also have fun listening to it!
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Show Notes 

* The Literaticast has a Patreon - throw in a buck a month to help support the pod!

* Follow Brian on BlueSky: @brianlarossa.com / Follow ME on BlueSky: l[email protected]

* Brian's website has a ton of great info on it!

* If you want to get deep on how to design for easy readers, check out Brian's informative essay on The Role of Letterforms in Reading Instruction and Leveled Typesetting Guidelines

* The short film Brian mentioned about the last day the NYT used Linotype machines

* Debbie Ridpath Ohi's website has tons of GREAT resources for authors and illustrators - including the picture book templates I mentioned, and a BlueSky Starter Guide!

* Two of the up-and-coming illustrators Brian mentioned finding via social media are Francesca Mahaney and Kalen Chock.

* I mentioned Mark Hoffmann as an example of an illustrator who does great "branding" across his website & socials

* We Need Diverse Books has a variety of grants, mentorship opportunities, and other great initiatives. Get involved!

* I'm obsessed with the HP Sprocket Photo Printer -- I have the 2x3 in pink, but it comes in other colors and size formats to. (At the time of this posting, they are all on sale!)

* Make pictures into magnets with adhesive magnetic sheets like this!

* Books with Sprayed Edges are another of my current obsessions -- take a look at this website that creates special custom editions of popular books -- aren't they GORGEOUS? 

* Brian is obsessed with making the perfect pizza, and he's been kind enough to share his recipe. Get into it, and send him a picture of your pie!

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the endpapers for THIS IS NOT A PICTURE BOOK by Sergio Ruzzier, image stolen from The Curious Reader's Facebook bc I couldn't find my copy!
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peonies are going buck wild rn

Books We Discussed

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2 Comments
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    About the Literaticast

    Literary Agent Jennifer Laughran and her friends dish about the world of Children's Publishing.

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