Crafting Covers That Captivate

From concept to completion, Elizabeth Yaffe ’10 understands the power of a well-designed book cover. Associate art director for Viking/Penguin Books at Penguin Random House, Yaffe spoke to members of Pub, SCH’s literary magazine, this week. The magazine, which includes student artwork, stories, and poems, is designed and published annually by Upper School students.

Yaffe's process is a collaborative dance, a delicate balance between her creative vision and the opinions of editors, writers, and licensing teams. "I come up with the ideas, but there are a lot of opinions on all this," she admits. From initial sketches to final approval, designs can undergo numerous iterations—one cover, in particular, saw nearly 100 revisions—highlighting the meticulous nature of her work and the editing process.

A crucial aspect of her design philosophy is legibility. "It's important to know what it looks like as a thumbnail," she explains, acknowledging the digital reality where covers are often seen in miniature. Today's designs, she notes, are bolder and more attention-grabbing, reflecting the competitive literary marketplace.

Yaffe, who has designed covers for authors such as Amy Tan and Rebecca Makkai, among many others, discussed the importance of font and type as well as simply being an engaged reader. Pub members walked away inspired as they begin to design their next issue.

From left: Elizabeth Yaffe '10, guest speaker, Sky Matta '27, Pub member, and Jenny Gellhorn, faculty adviser of Pub.