Almost Amish : book design by Julie Chen

If you have followed my blog for long (which might be 2 of you!), you know that I am also a freelance book designer for Tyndale House Publishers.

One of my latest babies recently hit the shelves. Almost Amish is the story of a woman trying to simplify her life from technology and the busyness of life to truly slow down and enjoy life.

It has to be one of my favorite covers I have ever created!


The above cover, with the black damask background is actually the original photo & concept. We wanted to create a slightly "tongue-in-cheek" modern day "almost amish" woman... the suburban lady with a perfect manicure, tattoos on her wrists, funky rings, and yet wears a peasant black blouse and a not-so-old-fashioned-apron as she bakes bread in her kitchen to bring to her dinner table in a gorgeous basket.

Here is what a Kentucky.com reviewer said about the cover:

The book Almost Amish is packaged in a kind of chick-lit come-hither way.

The cover model is holding a whopping loaf of homemade bread in a rustic basket, her nails a well- tended bright red and sporting a ring that looks as if a Kardashian dropped it while fleeing the paparazzi, a tattoo of a bracelet on one arm. Her black blouse is stylishly notched, and her apron/skirt is the sort of awesomely gorgeous Etsy-riffic thing for which you, too, would go almost-Amish if only you could find and purchase it. If you had that apron, you could eat fresh kale by the leaf and feel perfectly content.

It is a stunning book cover.



The publishing team wanted the background a little lighter & brighter, so we chose to bring out the teal.

Good thing for me, I not only have an extremely talented friend and neighbor who knows how to sew anything, but she is also adorned with the most beautiful tattoos and has a great style of her own. (she is also the type to buy organic, bake fresh bread, and again, create her own clothing)... so, I recruited her to design this apron & model of the cover!


And, this is most likely also my favorite spine I have ever created! Look at the detail of Heather's sewing. Please check out more of her work at www.neemies.etsy.com

OH & if you have seen me at a local art show or women's conference, you will see me wearing this apron & she is currently creating a matching fabric headband!!! So excited.

Grace & Peace,
Julie

behind the scenes: be like Christ -Philippians 2

{PHOTO © SLAVOMIR ULICNY,
i assume it was taken in eastern europe}

Philippians 2:5

Your attitude should be
the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant . . .

we often have heard these words of the apostle paul in regards to Jesus Christ and His ultimate humility in servant hood, and this past sunday i ran across an article in the chicago tribune that has challenged me to the core and brought to life in modern context a couple who is truly being Jesus to others.

please follow the link, as long as it is live, watch the interview with jimi & be as humbled & challenged as i have been.

jimi & kate allen have graciously opened their lives to an alcoholic homeless man for the past 5 years. 5 years & going. they have reached out to him, though as the article states, it is not always smooth sailing. i am so impressed by their love and selflessness through their acts of compassion and love to fellow man, as they are truly doing life with tony.

you see, my family supports the poor through prayer & giving to compassion international and world relief, but bringing them into your home, even inviting them to sit at the head table of your wedding banquet is a whole other level! wow. i love how in jimi's interview he compares their wedding to the banquet in heaven in which Jesus will seat us at the head table, though we truly do not deserve to be there.

i love how there is such honesty in the article of trying times & that it has not been a magical overnight success, but rather selfless love & giving shown without any expectations in return. they are changing a life for eternity.

now, what on earth does this book cover have to do with helping the poor & being a humble servant?

i know jimi allen through my work at tyndale house publishers & chose him to photograph these darling girls for my cover design.

jimi allen is an amazing photographer & visionary all around. you can view more of his work here and here.

oh & you can see more of the photo journalist's work on this story here!

{little side note: i think it is SO FUN that jimi married his assistant, kate, as back when we did the cover shoot, they were not "together" at least that i knew of}

ok, back to the moral of my story: your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus: humble, serving, looking out for others interests, sacrificial, loving . . . Lord, change my heart to be more like yours.

{art available here}

may this story challenge you & encourage you as it has me!

grace & peace,
julie

craving grace & the power of design

my latest book design {in print} came this week & i could not wait to crack this baby open for a good read!

if any of you are new to reading my blog, besides being a wife, mommy, and creative director of Life Verse Design, i am also proud to be a book designer for Tyndale House Publishers. i worked in-house for 7 years (see some of my portfolio here) & once the babies came along, i became a freelancer, working from home.

so, yes, i get the best of both worlds and i am forever grateful. i love books & i love Tyndale.

there are so many things about book design that i love. one of which is, i guess, the power of it. you see, i always judge a book by it's cover. how can a visual person like me not?! another thing i love is that no 2 jobs are alike (unless you are creating a series), but really ... there is no such thing as boredom in book design!

it has also been a privilege to work with authors whom i admire, and as a book designer, an author's encouragement can mean the world to you. to know that you (the visual person) truly connected with the author (the wordsmith) is a magical moment.

here are lisa's own words concerning my cover:

When I saw the design, I thought, "That's exactly what the story is." The imagery captured so well the abundance of God's grace pouring out, which was exactly what I was trying to get across in the book. At the time I was still in the middle of some edits, and had been frustrated because I couldn't seem to express a few key points in the right way. But seeing the cover gave me the motivation to keep going, and I didn't stop until the message matched the image. So thank you, more than you know, for being a very important part of the process. I'm so grateful.

wow. thank YOU lisa for your huge encouragement, both to me & to my entire Tyndale design team and all you other designers out there... there is power in your designs!

if you would like to see my other concepts which i had created for this title, go here.

if you would like to get to know lisa more, go here.

if you would like to PURCHASE THE BOOK, go here.

if you would like to "like" craving grace & lisa on facebook, go here.

oh, and one last fun tidbit: those are my sticky hands on the cover. i sat on a stool in a pretty little dress, holding the jar of honey as my art director literally POURED the rest of the honey over my hands and it trickled down the dress. one of the most interesting photoshoots i have been a part of & particularly funny as people in the office at Tyndale were walking by wondering what on earth we were doing. cover photo is shot by the magnificently talented stephen vosloo.

go buy a copy of this wonderful book and allow His grace to pour over you too :)

grace & peace,
julie

behind the scenes: taste & see!

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8

on july 3 we went up to michigan to carry on our family tradition of blueberry picking!

the kids had a great time searching for the biggest, juiciest berries (the size of grapes!)

we actually picked 10 pounds worth!

after we had picked the berries last year, i thought to myself just how beautiful and delicious they are. i kept thinking about the verse, "taste & see that the Lord is good..." and decided to use my favorite little mister's hands holding out his best picks.

the above is my final art, available here.

this verse, and actually all of psalm 34, has meant a lot to me over the years, as encouragement and huge challenge... verse 1 proclaims that i will extol (or praise) the Lord at all times ... really? will i? what a challenge. the last time i prayed about that as my pastor was teaching through this psalm, i went through the biggest trial and heart ache of my life. for the first time i understood the psalm which talks about the concept of worship being a sacrifice.

then, moving on through the psalm it gets to the taste & see part.

do i really believe that the Lord is good? or do i just think the things He gives me are good?
and, what does it really mean to taste the Lord?

when you taste something, you partake of it. it must enter in. you experience it with many of your senses. not just thinking. but, feeling. you either like it or you do not.

when thinking through a visual food to represent the tasting, fruits came to mind since they are naturally more sweet & tasty than other foods. apples have too much of a symbolism with the garden of eden; bananas would like silly; juicy grapes remind others of wine; then, after taking the photo of the handful of blueberries, i thought, "this is it!"

as i had mentioned in an earlier post, i also am a book designer for tyndale house publishers. i am currently working on the title craving grace, which utilizes psalm 34:8 as it's theme verse.

here are some top secret cover comps to share with you, the world!

in the above cover, i wanted the woman just truly contemplating if God is really as sweet as this honey. OH, i should tell you, the other main part of the book (besides God's grace & receiving it in your life & tasting His goodness) is that the author, lisa velthouse, goes on a 6 month fast from sweets and only allows herself the natural sweetness of honey.

now, at first i thought, "oh, that's nice." you see, i do not consider myself to have a sweet tooth (my hubby on the other hand does :) BUT, when strawberry rhubarb pie or chocolate chip cookies are calling my name, just one sliver, just one cookie, wow. do i have a sweet tooth!

so, i have much respect for lisa who did the fast & learned much through it.

the above cover taken on weathered stairs (which no one could tell except me i suppose) is to symbolize the salescopy of "stumbling towards a God who surprise" in that we go through this life climbing our way through the dirt, grunge, and brokenness of our hearts. then, we are able to rest, reach in, and partake of the sweetness of His grace.

that's me in the above cover, COVERED with sticky honey. oh my, a very fun photoshoot. my concept behind this cover is that the jar of honey (symbolizing God's grace & love) is just overflowing out & pouring over His children. it's held out to you as you crave His grace in your life too. it's not just for her, but for everyone.

and, alas, the final chosen cover; a variation on the above image, just with the jar being tipped more to pour out some more honey.

oh, one more thing to hopefully entice you all to buy the book (which does not come out until next spring, i believe...) in the book, lisa relays a story of a rabbi giving the pentateuch to his kindergarten class. fresh. new. leather. he then goes around & puts wax paper on top of each and every book. he then goes around a third time and pours out blobs of honey on the wax paper. he tells the kids to taste & says to remember that this is what the Lord tastes like!

oh, my! i just think that is the coolest image of partaking in the goodness & sweetness of God & His Word! when you read it, does it taste good to you? do you take it in? does it transform you?

well, that's it. that's my thinking. hope you have enjoyed!

most of all, i hope in your own life you truly do taste and see that the Lord is good! He is. amen.

grace & peace,
julie

my other {other} life

in my other {other} life, that is . . . besides being a wife, mommy, and co-owner / creative director of life verse design, i am a book designer. for the past 13 years, i have designed books for tyndale house publishers (and a couple for zonderkidz and willow creek association).

i had my first interview at tyndale the day before i married my wonderful hubby almost 13 years ago now. (actually, i had applied to tyndale before that, but was rejected based on my portfolio!)

i worked in-house for 7 years, then after i became prego w/number 2, i quit to be stay at home full time, but literally the week after i quit, my boss called with a freelance project and ever since then i have at least one book on my plate.

i cannot tell you what a blessing tyndale has been to me and my family. they are an incredible company, built on the strong leadership and noble character of dr. kenneth taylor (i still remember feeling like a little girl, meeting with him in his office, discussing book design as i sat on this over sized leather couch with my feet dangling down!)

in any case, this bookshelf represents my life's work (well, some of it). it is jam packed 2 rows deep of books i have designed over the last years of my life. books that have changed lives, touched people's hearts, and brought laughter and tears.

i was honored to be a part of the left behind series, as i got to follow after my wonderful art director to finish out the design she had so strongly set. (i designed books 4-12). they are now being repackaged and i got a sneak peek... they look AWESOME!

i have loved using my illustration background and combining it with the more technical skills of design. (i went to school to get a BFA in illustration, always knowing i wanted to illustrate children's books.)

the design team at tyndale is so strong. i am honored to still be a part of them.

here are a few of my favorite designs
(though there are many more & each book has a special story):

the Jesus Storybook Bible
written by sally lloyd-jones
illustrated by jago

ok, this is not a tyndale book, but i got the job through an agent whom i worked w/at tyndale.

as i mentioned before, i LOVE children's picture books, so i jumped at the chance of designing this one (even though sunshine girl was a mere 12 weeks old when i got the job). to work with an artist as great as jago was a thrill. he took my concepts & thumbnails & brought them to life through color, texture, and style that i only dreamt of.

this bible is a MUST HAVE. it has won many awards and more than that, it will bless you and your children.

seriously, no matter your age it will touch your heart. the way sally conveys God's great love for us is remarkable.

go get it now :)

the growing reader phonics bible
written by joy mackenzie
illustrated by jill newton

the growing reader phonics bible has a special place in my heart because:
a. the writing is so creative. i am seriously amazed at this book
b. i LOVE the art: the texture, the color, the whimsicalness! jill is great & has many other picture books (as does jago!)
c. it was the first picture book i ever did . . . yes, tyndale gave me a 200+ page bible to be my first picture book . . . ahhh!

it was a joy every step of the way and i was just on the tyndale website and learned it is out of print. boo-hoo i say! if you can find it, get your hands on this one too!

the lineage of grace
written by francine rivers
illustrated by vivienne flesher

this series design was a huge risk for tyndale, as it is (obviously) so contemporary and abstract for christian historical fiction. i LOVE vivienne's art and actually had tried proposing her for many other books i had designed, which were never chosen, so to get to work with her (finally) was a dream come true. (sidenote: i actually have 2 originals of hers in my home . . . yippeee! maybe i will show those later).

in any case, they went and now tyndale has repackaged the series in one compilation book and totally redesigned the look to be more of francine's "style" (the traditional historic fiction genre) & i must say, the cover is gorgeous and does better fit francine's look.

i LOVED working on these books and i actually read them. (they are some of the few books i have actually read that i designed!) francine is a beautiful writer and i love how she brought in so much of the jewish culture that you may not have known to make these stories come to life in such a powerful way.

another must have!

bringing up boys & bringing up girls
written by dr. james dobson

these books were fun because the photoshoots were SO fun. we actually put peanut butter on the boy's cheek so that the dog would lick him, and for the girl's shoot we did a million great shots, both indoors and outdoors at a horse farm (it was impossible to narrow down the images!)

for these covers, i probably showed at least 100 comps combined btwn the two. literally. wow.

but, it was worth it, and dobson recently wrote to the tyndale team to say that bringing up girls is his favorite cover ever for one of his own books. yippeee! thank you.


ok, i should have been in bed an hour ago.

i am obviously very passionate about my work & love my book design & could talk about each one. (but that would be another blog :)

last but not least, shaped by God
written by max lucado
most of the photos are by michael hudson

this book is special to me because it was my first full color book i ever did (well before art directing a children's illustrator to create paintings). max's words are so strong and inspirational. i would recommend any & all of his books.

michael's photography is just another story. ahhh is all i can say. he's got the eye, the technique, and his work is exquisite. i loved being able to work with him and by observing him shoot, i learned a lot for my new venture of life verse.

well, really, i did not plan to write my own book here, but i did. i will hit the hay. hope you've enjoyed getting to know a bit more of my other life.

grace & peace,
julie

a fresh start

i am feeling renewed & refreshed in this new year & have high hopes to see what God will do in me, through me, as well as with my family & art.

we ended the year by taking a quick trip to kansas city, missouri to visit Demdaco (which is absolutely beautiful & made me AGAIN in awe that i have the privilege of being one of their artists!!!! pinch me now). we also attended the "one thing" conference put on by ihop (international house of prayer ... not the pancakes). sam & i actually had time alone, i think the first trip we've done without the kids since pumpkin-poo's has been born.

it was really quite an amazing experience and very spiritually refreshing. you see, though my whole focus & intent is on Scripture art & bringing God's Word "to life" in a new & visual way, i had, by the end of last year, gotten away from my own hunger & thirst for His Word. when i did make time for my readings, it was just that ... reading. not much life to it. just another task to check off in my life.

so, to enter into "one thing" where there were literally more than 15,000 people just waiting to meet with God and be touched by His Spirit, it was inspiring and brought me back to who i really am... His child. there is much to say about the conference, but i think i will sum it up in a few things i felt i learned there:

1. God's salvation truly creates a new life. (which is why the above image is posted). He came to set us free, to give us a living hope, redemption, and healing. i think sometimes i must think that is for the future when i am in heaven, but now i am more & more convinced that we are to live out those promises every day, really embracing and asking God for wholeness, restoration, & healing in whatever needed area in our lives.

2. He is our perfect Father who loves us madly, has chosen us, dances over us, sings over us, and cares for us more than we can imagine.

3. We are to partake in His mission in His world. He chooses to work through our giftings, our passions, our brokenness, our entire life (if we let Him) (more on this later)

4. I was actually incredibly encouraged in my artwork & had a few dreams of future work (cannot wait to get them out of my head this year :)

ok, that was much more than i wanted to say...
in any case, i do not normally make new year resolutions, but this year i must. i am telling you, by december of last year i felt like a robot at times. i am a work horse. i can get a million tasks done, but i just felt worn & a bit lost.

so, i have decided (prayerfully & with the accountability of a friend :) that we will be reading the Bible chronologically, using Tyndale's one year chronological Bible to force me into His Word daily. (plus, i love the design of this cover, even though in this image you cannot see the 2 woodcut fish)

i am actually almost done with genesis. i am not an avid reader, so this will be a challenge, but i just hope God keeps me faithful to Himself this year.

gotta go, i should be reading...

grace & peace,
julie

36

as of yesterday, i am 36 years old! wow. where has the time flown? (though, photo disclaimer: this pic was taken last fall, i have no current pictures of me since i am usually behind the camera)...

last week, at my MOPS meeting (Mothers of Preschoolers, an organization to encourage the mommies in the world) our speaker asked the question, "If you look back 10 years ago, would you have thought this is where you would be NOW?" i have been thinking a lot about that now, as my birthday has arrived and i have pondered where i am at in life and where i want to be in 2010. i guess my answer is yes & no.

if i think back 10 years, to 1999 i would have been married just 2 years and happily working full time at Tyndale House Publishers, designing books. since i unexpectedly loved my career so much, kids were not on the radar (cuz i knew once i became a mom, i wanted to stay at home with them full time). though, i DID want kids somday: 2 of them. my hubby & i are not the "5 year plan" type of couple... we just take life as it comes and pray for wisdom in the choices laid out before us.

but, after that speaker asked that question & really emphasized that so much of our lives are the unexpected blessings which we did not plan & that those things are really what makes our life full it got me thinking...

so, fast forward 10 years to now:
did i always want to do art? YES.
did i ever think i would actually own my own creative business, creating inspirational art for the home? NO.
did i think i would live in the suburbs of chicago forever? NO.
do i love our little town? YES.
did i think i would love book design so much? YES.
did i dream i would get to work on such books as the Left Behind series (books 4-12) and the Jesus Storybook Bible that would literally change the world? NO.
did i think i would have 2 kids? YES. (or at least i hoped)
did i think i would have 3 kids? NO. (for i am the "middle child" and have always wanted an even number... but, then our "love child" came along :)

just thinking about what God has done in my life over these past years puts me in awe. my new creative outlet & relationship with Demdaco & Tyndale are huge blessings. as well as blessing number 3! i wouldn't trade it for the world and i am incredibly thankful.

so, though i will NOT be making a 5 year or 10 year plan, i do have dreams. those dreams are simple:

1. to love Jesus much, much more than i already do and grow in my relationship with Him
2. to be a loving and encouraging wife
3. to be the best mommy i could be
4. to serve the body of Christ through my gifts

and anything else, well, we'll just see what is to come... better days even, i am sure of it!

grace & peace,
julie