I design and create books.
I enjoy solving problems in XHTML code, writing poetry and prose, reading along the Willamette River, and drinking too much coffee. I produce print books, the covers that bind them, and the digital means by which we read or listen to them. I’ve converted educational textbook behemoths into accessible ebooks, navigated the trenches of KDP to assist poets with self-publishing, and left my editorial mark on projects both large and small.
In 2021, I finished my master’s degree in Book Publishing, specializing in Design and Marketing. For my final research project and thesis, I created a system for categorizing interactive transmedia stories and coded the webpages of J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore. If you’d like to learn more, you can read my abstract here or download it in its entirety from PDX Scholar.
As a designer, I’m interested in how stories can be told with a combination of print design and emerging technologies like audio, smart applications, and interactive storytelling through voice-first technology or virtual assistants. I also love to help poets and authors edit, design, and market their self-published collections.
I launched a micro-press with my mother, Crayne Books, to publish chapbooks and zines to support the birth of a post-digital, artistic and literary renaissance. We believe poetry, in all of its forms, is a revolutionary act. We seek to publish the working-class poet, with a focus on lifting and championing marginalized voices including BIPOC and queer authors. Our first collection is Taylor L. Ciambra’s Away With Words, with more poetry forthcoming.
No matter the project – whether it’s an author website, marketing materials, or a manuscript ready to be designed and produced – I’m up for the challenge.