This cookbook is from LQBTQ Comedian Matteo Lane (Coming in Spring ‘25) and is unique for being genuinely funny and snarky and readable. I didnt want to bury the humor in traditional cookbook structure, so we collaborated to bring the humor forward in both text and imagery. (Updates to be posted when the book release nears.)
Design, Art Direction
A book of essays from an LGBTQ comedian on the rise gave me the challenge of a very long title that needed a great cover to catch attention.
Book and Cover Design
A visual memoir from one of America’s most beloved Drag performers.
Design, Art DIrection
One of my favorite shows is RuPaul’s Drag Race, and one of my favorite people in the world of drag is Michelle Visage.
It’s a memoir, but real-life, down-to-earth advice permeates this book. I worked closely with Michelle to develop a visual language that felt true to her: Equal parts glamor, drag, and New Jersey style. I arranged to have one of the men who created the Rupaul look meet us in LA at the studio to shoot the cover. Truly one of my favorite projects ever.
Design, Art Direction, Illustration
I saw Justin Sayre perform a show called “The GayBC’s” and reached out to suggest that he make a book out of it. Many months later, the show became the witty and acerbic From Gay to Z: A Queer Compendium.
Design, Art DIrection
This book happened as a parody to a children’s book published by the wife of Vice President Pence. The book is a legitimate children’s book with full story and illustration, and it was produced in about a month, which is unheard of in the world of publishing. The audiobook uses celebrity voices like Jesse Tyler Ferguson and RuPaul, highlighting the zeitgeist of the moment.
Art Direction
There are a lot of penises in this book. Seriously. A lot. You never think that you'll be talking to celebrity authors about drawing cartoon vaginas or photoshopping slutty Cabbage Patch Dolls, but when it happens, it's an amazing experience.
Part parody, part informational sex manual, part erotic catalog, This project was a vortex of design languages, changing completely with every page as the jokes demanded.
Design, Art & Photo Direction, Illustration
SELF-CREATED HUMOR LINE
This began as a throwaway joke at a brainstorm, and then developed into a whole world where eternally partying cats live the 1986 lifestyle through a series of “T-shirt” moments.
Beginning with the challenge of planning and building a custom, royalty free library of cat photos, the line became a Book, Journal, Notecards, and several years worth of calendars. The Cats of 1986 represent a iconic mindset—celebrating the goofy fashion, style, and attitudes of the mid-1980s.
Concept, Art & Photo Direction, Design
I was really into puppets as a kid. I had a koala puppet who had a side job as an off-off-off broadway (as in Elementary school production) vampire. Fully a product of Muppet Show mania, I worked in a painted refrigerator box, and even toured the show to other schools, much to the bewilderment of the captive audiences.
This book was about the notebook that Jim Henson kept throughout all of his puppet-making and movie-making years. Partially a biography of Jim Henson, partially a peek at the doodles and sketches he recorded, the author encouraged me to work with the art to recreate the sense of energy and creativity that the journal itself contained.
When LEGO came looking for a publishing partner, it was a completely new type of partnership for both my company and LEGO. One of the first projects was to create a visual book that had some rules: 1. It must celebrate LEGO bricks, and 2. no bricks could be connected. (The reasons for this are complicated.)
I asked LEGO to send me bricks and elements separated into colors, and then hosted a group of a dozen creatives to come and play with them. Those experiments turned into a book of art created from bricks. That book kicked off a long and successful partnership that has sold millions of dollars in books, puzzles, and stationery products.
Design, Art DIrection
Design, Art DIrection
Design, Art DIrection
A classic story retold by a groundbreaking Pixar artist and director.
Art Direction, Design
A huge, ambitious book project to document female characters gave me the opportunity to invite female, transgender and non-binary artists to depict the female characters of the Star Wars Universe.
Complex and wide-ranging, I found and hired talent, then assigned subjects based on the artist’s styles, art directing and reviewing everything with the DIsney/Lucasfilm representatives.
Design, Art DIrection, Project Management
The book series that Darth Vader and Son spawned is one of my best-selling projects. Working closely with the Author/Illustrator, Editor, and Studio, we created a continuing set of books that recasts the Star Wars universe into a relatable and nostalgic treat.
Design, Art DIrection
Im an avid collector of vintage paint-by-numbers, and when the opportunity arose to create a slightly off-center kit, I connected with an up-and-coming artist to develop ideas based on actual kits from the past. We worked together to reverse-engineer a PBN set from her illustrations, and the finished product is a fun homage to the classic pop/kitsch art form.
Design, Art Direction
There was once this cat… She had a condition that made her LOOK surly. One day someone in the cat's family uploaded some images of her to the internet, and the whole world went nuts.
Seriously. The internet wrote all kinds of funny memes that collectively formed a very grumpy personality. We reached out and said, "Hey there, how about you write a book?" There was a click and the line went dead. (Cats don't like to talk on the phone, you know.)
Three years and three NYT bestsellers later, Grumpy Cat was a published author with her own line of stationery.
Concept, Content Creation, Art & Photo Direction, Design
Art Direction for Books, Design for Exclusive Leather Case Edition
This officially licensed collaboration with HBO, a freelance Tarot artist, and a renowned Tarot author aimed to create a unique project inspired by, but independent of, the world of the show.
This incredibly detailed and functional Tarot set was one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on. Balancing the mysticism of Tarot with the distinct universe of Game of Thrones was no easy task, requiring close daily collaboration from the entire team to ensure the deck remained faithful to the show while captivating Tarot enthusiasts.
Design, Art Direction, Content Development
This book was written by one of the writers of the show, along with one of the actors. It functions as an in-world “prop” that could be a notebook that the character actually kept.
Building a never-onscreen but officially canon book included making all types of found ephemera—notes scrawled on scraps of paper, found flyers, pamphlets and maps. The story of the book is that it is created and written by one character, but is also found and annotated by vampires, so the book contains several characters writing in different handwriting and changing each other’s entries.
Design, Art Direction, illustration
Design
Design
Design, illustration
Part of the book business in 2020 became making video assets to share the function, features, and the intangible qualities of what the products looked like and how their special qualities worked. I edited video and art-directed a two-person team to create stop-motion videos that highlighted the features of unique books and products, while communicating fun and giftability.
The iPad made the publishing world go a little crazy at first. No one was sure what it meant, or how digital books could be reinvented to maximize the opportunities of the technology. Just The Pearls is an app that encompasses 100 strips, audio and video author commentary, animations, behind-the-scenes content, and even short mockumentary-style videos. Built to that celebrate the Pearls Before Swine newspaper strip, and its author, Stephan Pastis, it represents a months of and work, and was probably the most fun I've ever had on a design project.
Design, UI, Art DIrection, Video
I love remixing vintage found images to make new things, and I’ve been making everything from departmental announcements, party invitations, and mean-spirited Valentine’s Day cards (by request) for friends for years.
Tree Twins is part absurdist joke, part sincere performance art, and part pure creativity. Begun as a costume for a televised dance party, it evolved into a decade-long, Nationally recognized project that is centered in SF, but has spread to NYC, Seattle, LA, London, Paris, and Berlin. The premise is simple: Become an unthreatening, ridiculous, enjoyable thing, and embody values of kindness and community in word and deed, then wait for magical things to happen!
Instagram: @TreeTwins, Website and Store: The TreeTwins.com
Costume maker, Creative Director, Design, Illustration, Performance
