#ThrowItForward Thursday. I love it. I love being able to shine the light back on those who help authors, to give credit where credit is most certainly due, and it absolutely delights me to honor Joy of Lankshear Design today.
Sometimes I meet the coolest people in the most unusual ways. I met my husband via my (late 90s) Elvis website. I met Joy because of our mutual love for the BBC show Merlin. We stumbled across each other on Twitter, started talking about the show, then about other things. She learned I was a writer hoping to someday publish a book; I learned she was a graphic designer.
Kismet? I think so. One look at her work, with its beautifully clean, classic designs, and I decided she was the designer for me. Given the reception to the covers for A Man of Character and A Matter of Time, it was clear I made the right choice (though I knew that the minute I saw the designs!).
If you’re looking for high quality, custom designs, whether for a book, a magazine, brochures, you name it, I highly recommend you contact Joy. She’s so fun to work with, her work impeccable, and the final products brilliant. I literally could not be happier with my books, for Joy did both the covers and the interior formatting, giving me a final product leaps and bounds ahead of anything I could have produced in terms of quality. Thank you, Joy!
How long have you been doing graphic design?
I’ve been working full time as a Graphic Designer for 24 years – wow, that is a long time.
How did you decide to become a graphic designer? Had it been a long-term dream?
I’ve always loved art and creating things with my hands, so my interest in design grew out of that. I received a Bachelor of Graphic Design from La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia in 1991.
You work from home. Do you love it? Is it hard to balance family needs when your work place is in the same space as your home place? (I know many authors face this challenge – I do!)
I love the flexibility of working from home. I’ve worked in large design studios in Sydney for many years, but since having a family, I have worked from home. It is the ideal job to do while working from home. I’m the kind of person who can’t sit still, I love multitasking, and this is a great environment for that.
What’s your favorite kind of work to do? Book covers? Brochures? Posters? Logos?
My favourite work is book design and magazine design. It’s great to finally see the printed thing in my hand and to have helped an author or publisher to create it.
I also design virtually anything that will be printed, bill boards, banners, product packaging, annual reports, brochures, logo signage and stationery. I also design websites and web gifs.
You live in Australia, but are working with me, an American. Is it odd to be doing work for clients who live far away, whom you’ve never met in person?
I love this about my work, the variety of people I meet. I have several clients in America and have worked with clients in England, Singapore, New Zealand and Malaysia, just to name a few other countries. Many of my clients I’ve never met in person; however, we Skype and email so often we have become good friends.
How long does it take you to design your average book cover?
I usually try to turn a cover design around in a week. But I’m very flexible and work hard to fit in with my clients’ schedules.
From where do you get your ideas? (Yeah, I totally have to ask that, even though authors roll their eyes at that one, too, because, really, do we always KNOW from where the ideas come?)
24 years as a designer brings with it a feeling for what my clients want. Sometimes an idea will jump out at me within seconds. Other times I really have to work and experiment and play around with ideas until something gels.
I try to get out often and look at what is happening in design so that I stay relevant. Being in touch with other designers and ad agencies is also a great inspiration, as we can bounce ideas off each other.
What other sorts of services do you provide for authors?
Just about anything. Cover design, typesetting and promotional graphics. A lot of my clients request web graphics, slider banners and gifs, which they can add to their websites.
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I would love to go to Europe and London, especially. We don’t have all those ancient buildings and history in Australia in the way that Europe does.
Name two things people don’t know about you:
I was born in a fishing village in South Thailand where my parents worked as medical missionaries.
I took up jogging 3 years ago and am still persevering with it, though I’m the world’s slowest runner. I saw a t-shirt that said, “I run … I’m slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter … but I run!” That about sums it up.
Do you have a fan base built up? (I know quite a few people who’ve expressed their admiration for A Man of Character‘s cover, and I’m always quick to tell them who designed it!)
Only really my Lankshear Design Facebook page. Which I haven’t done a lot with, so far.
Anything else you’d like us to know?
I’m flexible with work. I’m generally happy to work with my clients budget.
Aren’t those covers gorgeous? I look forward to seeing what Joy will do for my third book (The Demon Duke, which will debut sometime in 2016).
What can she do for YOU?
Thanks for sharing this wonderful interview. Joy’s work is beautiful! I hope to finish my book someday so I can send it her way for a cover design! 🙂
She will knock your socks off with whatever she comes up with, that’s for sure!
So interesting to learn about a Designer…this was very interesting…
Super cool how you guys met too….
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Annie – if you hear of any authors looking for a cover designer, please consider sending them Joy’s way! 🙂