update (August 2023) For my NEW WEBSITE - please visit GeorgiaRucker.com. More of my book design viewable at  Downtown Bookworks for whom I art directed and designed their full line of books. I am currently located in Madison, WI, where I've been freelancing for clients local and far since 2008. Before then, I worked as a designer in NYC.  The Wisconsin State Journal interviewed me in their 77 Square section (5/31/09) about working from afar, life in Wisconsin, and designing for 'tweens (among others).

what i do I design and illustrate books, brochures, catalogs, posters, logos --- take a look around this site and you'll see a varied collection of work. Over the last decade, I've designed a lot of highly visual books for kids and teens for Downtown Bookworks, as well as logos and invitations for local businesses, and various books for major publishers. I'm often hired to do both illustration and design, though the majority of my work is still design. For some projects, it makes sense to intertwine illustration and graphic design; but for others, the photography and/or words are the main focus. It all depends on the intended audience, the client's message, the materials available. I'm flexible. I strive to let the content guide me, and not let style overcome it. And, always, I'm eager to discuss the project with my clients and look forward to feedback. Whether designing a non-profit's logo, laying out a cookbook, or creating a fresh look for TIME magazine's kids' alamanac book, I aim to find the right visual tone and make the process smooth. I'm easy to work with, they say.

the past During the NYC years, many books, catalogs, brochures, logos, were designed; including People Magazine's Johnny Carson tribute book which was started and completed in an intense two-day (all night) design haze. From 1998 - 2003, I co-owned Pink Design, Inc. (site at www.monkeybrains.net/pinkdesigninc) which produced many fine and colorful pieces for a variety of clients. And before that, I art directed a webzine called www.stim.com and took on assorted freelance design jobs (which included boing boing founders' The Happy Mutant Handbook, my first book gig; and Star Wars Kids magazine --- for 20 issues).

client list My book clients include: Avalon Books; DK Publishing; Downtown Bookworks Inc.; Hearst Books; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; Little, Brown & Company; Penguin Group; Scholastic; Simon and Schuster; Sterling Publishing; St. Martin's Press; Random House; Time Inc.; and Watson-Guptill. Additional clients include: the American Camping Association; the Bowery Residents' Committee; The Educational Alliance; the 14th Street Y; Girls on the Run; Headrush; Madison Birth Center; the New York League of Conservation Voters; Open Arms Midwifery; Toshiba America Foundation; and a host of small, independent companies and individuals. A special thanks to my fellow small business owners who have hired me to create their logos: Mantra Media Design, Raisin Bomber Films, 44 Pictures, Monkeybrains.net, Garner and Cowie photography.

Let me know what you're looking for, and I'll make it splendid.

Feel free to email or call (info is at top on right). References available upon request.

 

odds and ends...

education Graduated with a B.A. in Art History from Swarthmore College
first design job Art Assistant/designer for Mondo 2000 magazine