Read All About It!
Children’s Book Jacket & Interior Design
HarperCollins Publishers / March 2026
Read All About It! is a children’s picture book by Benjamin Hall, a foreign correspondent and war journalist, inspired by his experiences reporting from the field. Published in March 2026, the book received national television, podcast, and print coverage, including a profile in People, and debuted on the New York Times Best Sellers list for Children’s Picture Books.
I led the book’s visual direction from concept through final production, partnering closely with the editor, illustrator, and production team. My role encompassed art direction, cover and interior design, typography, color correction, proofing, and production.
Jacket Design
We received three initial cover sketches from the illustrator Martina Motzo, which I reviewed with the editor and team. We gravitated toward the first option for the way the trees framed the hedgehog and gave the scene a sense of place.
We liked the fun, expressive quality of the hand lettering in the initial sketch, but felt it was a little hard to read and too close to the character. I explored hand-drawn typefaces that could complement the illustration without competing with it, and chose one with an ink-like quality that echoed Martina’s pen-and-ink watercolor style. I put the type on a curve and slightly bounced the letters to match the playful energy of the artwork, then worked the author and illustrator credits into the scene, placing them in the sky and grass.
Once the final color art came in, I tested a few title colors to see what worked best with the illustration and shared the options with the team. We ultimately landed on the reddish orange color used on the final cover.
Interior Design
I used a classic serif for the running text and gave the artwork and type plenty of white space on the page. The goal was to create clean, easy-to-read pages that let Martina’s illustrations take the lead while keeping the story clear and engaging.
The interior went through several rounds of sketches. At each stage, I reviewed the artwork with the editor and team, consolidated their feedback, and worked with Martina on the revisions. I also thought carefully about the pacing of the story and the mix of illustration formats throughout the book, from full double-page spreads to single-page illustrations and smaller spot vignettes, to create a varied visual rhythm from page to page.
Once the design was approved, I prepared the files for print and traveled to Princeton, NJ to color correct the printed proofs with the production team. With watercolor artwork, getting the color right in print was especially important. I worked through the proofs to make sure the warmth and vibrancy of Martina’s illustrations translated from screen to the finished book.
