True Love and the Impossible Odds of Loving Client Work
A belated look into the process behind creating one of my favorite book covers
Sometimes the stars align and the perfect job lands in my inbox at exactly the right time. Sometimes the perfect job comes in when I’m not ready for it, and I have to lovingly send it down the river into the arms of another. These are the ones that got away, and yes, I do check in on them to see how they’re brought to life through someone else’s vision.
But I’m not here to talk about the ones that got away. I’m here to share the process for one that made it through to the end: the cover for True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li, which hit the shelves earlier this year.
I can honestly say that when this job came in, I was wholly unprepared for how much it would end up meaning to me by the end of it. I was initially sent a short summary of the story:
When it comes to book covers, I always make sure to read through the manuscript before starting on the process of sketching ideas. Very rarely have I completed a cover using just art direction from the art director/designer. It’s always a helpful jumping off point, but it’s hard for me to feel like I can capture the essence of the story unless I’m able to dive in on my own to pick out details and visuals that speak to me. Being able to read through the manuscript before it’s out is a fun privilege that makes book cover jobs so special.
Reading True Love and Other Impossible Odds was such a joy and a moving experience for me. Christina so perfectly captured the feeling of getting swept up into a college romance, but also the intricacies of finding yourself as a queer person. I’ve never encountered anything that so perfectly described the disorienting whirlwind of feelings I had when I first realized I was queer than within the pages of this book. I definitely was not expecting that when I started reading it.
I was especially moved by how Christina wrote about the different relationships Grace, the main character, balances in her life— from a budding relationship, best friends growing apart to the complicated relationship between a father and daughter. They all felt so visceral and I was immediately swept up in all the feels.
After finishing the manuscript I definitely had to stop and take a deep breath. A familiar pressure settles on my shoulders whenever I start working on a project that I really care about. I loved True Love and Other Impossible Odds so much that I was nervous about making sure I did it justice.
But the work doesn’t get done if I let self-imposed pressure get to me!
To start, I went over the art direction I was given and some personal requests from Christina:
Swallows incorporated somewhere into the cover, a symbolic motif of importance to this story
A wintery New England palette or setting
Both of the main characters (Grace and Julia) featured
A subtle nod to the math/game theory/stable matching algorithm that the main character invents to pair people with their perfect romantic campus match—a key plot point
I started the brainstorming process with thumbnails and notes, trying to figure out how I could incorporate the art direction and author requests into a cohesive solution.
After wracking my brain I finally came up with three sketch options with some potential:
My favorite out of the above was definitely the first sketch. I felt really drawn to the visual of this scene while reading the book and was hoping there could be a way to make it work for the cover. The image of a stable match algorithm chart isn’t exactly an aesthetically pleasing one, so I thought it could be a good solution to hide it away in plain sight among the stars. This could also be interpreted as Grace and Julia’s relationship being “written in the stars”.
Thankfully, Christina and the team at HarperCollins felt the same way I did! Other than a note to make sure the characters appeared college-aged, I got the ok to charge full speed ahead.
Here’s the process from sketch to final illustration:
Working on the cover was such a smooth process. I felt so grateful to be matched with a project that I loved and a team that trusted me to let me do what I do best. That’s definitely not often the case!
When I illustrate a cover for a book I truly love, I like to send a nice message to the author afterwards. Out of caution, I usually wait until after the book has been published in case any part of the cover illustration process goes awry. But in this case, Christina reached out to me first right after the final cover was approved!
What started as a project that I enjoyed eventually turned into a truly special opportunity to meet and connect with another creative working in the same city as me. This is the second time I’ve illustrated a cover for another Christina. Shout out to Christina Soontornvat, another author who went above and beyond to make my experience as an illustrator better.
I sometimes get asked why it is that a lot of my client work happens to be work that really speaks to me and aligns with my personal interests. To be honest, I’m not totally sure! But I do think it comes down to a mix of reasons.
I make time when I can to do personal work in order to explore themes that are important or exciting to me. As portfolio pieces these can help to attract similar jobs.
Whenever I do client work, I do my best to infuse it with my own perspective and style. In the best case scenario, even a job that doesn’t align with my interests or expertise will at least look like something that does. And it’s always a chance to challenge myself and learn something from the process.
I also don’t always share client work online, so what others see is actually a more curated version of my portfolio. I do this purposefully so that the work I get hired for is based on the work that I want to do more of.
Combined with years of working in the industry, my portfolio has somehow morphed into something that is a lot more representative of my own work and interests for the most part. It looks vastly different than the portfolio of the fresh grad taking any job that came her way when I first started almost ten years ago.
Sometimes it feels impossible to find joy and purpose in my work after years of pursuing the path of monetizing my passion. But other times the odds work in my favor to remind me of why I chose to follow this dream and that I still do love doing what I do.
✦ Recommendations/Things I’ve been enjoying lately ✦
Arcane: After a three year wait, Arcane Season 2 finally dropped on Netflix! I was obsessed with the first season when it came out, and thankfully you can drop in with no prior knowledge of League of Legends (the game it’s based on). This show felt groundbreaking in its animation style, character design and worldbuilding. Season 2 was all that and more, and it expanded the story in ways I was so not ready for in such a masterful way. As sad as I am to see Arcane come to a close, I’m excited to see what’s next for Riot Games and Fortiche!
Hadestown: I love both musical theatre and mythology retellings, so I was so incredibly excited to finally see Hadestown on Broadway! That was three weeks ago now and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve replayed the cast recording since (very sadly not a recording of the cast I saw). I knew the story of Orpheus and Eurydice going in, but repackaged in a 1920’s New Orleans-esque setting made it feel new. The cast, writing, set design, costume design, lighting design were all so incredible. I highly recommend going to try to catch the current cast, especially Jordan Fisher as Orpheus!
Loved reading through your process! You're a magician with how smooth your work looks my friend!
This cover is a stunner! I loved learning more about the process of designing it. <3