Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Frederick
Hi Josh, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
At the age of seven, I received two life-changing gifts. A gorgeously illustrated collection of fairy tales and a box set of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, illustrated by the icon Pauline Baynes. It was the first time I remember thinking how beautiful books can be. Of course, I loved the stories but the rich, red illustrated vignette pattern printed on the case of the fairy tale collection made me excited to read a new story while the illustrations of Pauline Baynes sent me through the wardrobe with the Pevensies to Narnia. The books as an object captured the magic of the stories inside and helped me realize how a book’s design doesn’t just complement the story but in many ways enhance it.
Unlike many of my art and design peers, I didn’t grow up drawing, painting, or doing anything remotely “artistic”. A career in the arts and serious artistic pursuits was something that was never thought of in my working-class, military family. But we read a lot. No genre was left untapped, no author left undiscussed and while we had no career artists in our family, creative thinking was constantly encouraged and nurtured.
This created a tension of wanting to create but not knowing how. After playing around with a pirated version of Photoshop in high school and making a plethora of Twilight-themed banners for hire online, I found I loved making things for people. Someone had to be making book covers for authors in the same way I was creating forum graphics for randos online. I tried making a connection between what I was making with a computer science degree, but realized very quickly that classes in physics and calculus were not going to get me closer to creating things. It took one person telling me, “You should study graphic design. Study art” and I packed my bags and moved halfway around the world to live in a foreign country all alone and study in a field I had zero background or knowledge in.
One BFA and ten years of hard work later, I am now several years into a thriving freelance career as a book designer working with independent authors and publishers to bring their stories to life. At the same time, I’m exploring my own creative voice through the medium of book arts and bookbinding, combining my love for books with my desire to create.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Leaving home for my degree is still one of the hardest things I ever had to do. Until three years ago when I took the ultimate leap of faith and went freelance full-time, focusing on designing book covers and book interiors. Fighting through the unknown and self-doubt was and is still something I deal with on a daily basis.
At university, I was told by one professor that print was dead and by another that I would never make it as a designer. In my ten year career, I’ve worked almost entirely in print with six of those years working exclusively with books. Through it all, it’s the books and the stories of writers that inspire me. There’s no greater joy than seeing someone’s face light up with pure joy on seeing their writings turned into a book. As a book designer, I can help writers transcend a thought or dream into something real and tangible. There’s no way I’m not going to keep doing that for a living. I’m grateful that print is alive and well, I can make a living from it. After ten years and several awards, I would say I have, in fact, made it.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My creative work has two main facets. First, as a book designer, I design book covers and layout the interiors of books for independent authors and publishers. I’m proud that that work has led to me being a finalist this year at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Overall Book Design of one of my favorite books, 1895: A Novel of Love and War. I’ve also recently helped lead a design team in designing twenty children’s picture books for Avenue A books, a social-emotional learning publisher.
The second aspect of my work is in book arts, a lesser-known, not often talked about field that uses the object of the book as a means of expression. While traditionally, the book’s form serves the written word, in book arts, the form is the primary vehicle of expression and the writing secondary or non-existent. I’m exploring this medium to develop my personal creative voice, explore creativity, and push the boundaries of book design. In a field that lives and breathes convention stretching back five hundred plus years, throwing it all out and creating unique and unconventional books provides an avenue to see where my personal creativity can take me.
The piece pictured below that I’ve titled “Journey” is a book arts piece that embodies my entire creative journey so far. I made it on the 10th anniversary of my graduation from university and while it has no legible text, the book itself is made of ephemera throughout my time at university. Through grade sheets, notes from friends, programs for art shows and concerts, they create a unified whole that has helped define and shape me and my art. This is just one example of an art book that expresses through form instead of words.
For those interested in learning more about this unconventional approach to books, I’d recommend reading Ulises Carrión’s The New Art of Making Books.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
The best mentors and networking that I’ve found have been organic and therefore, difficult to find. Showing up has been the best advice that I’ve received. By showing up to the non-profit Blk+Brwn Book Designers and volunteering my time to help other book designers, I’ve made many friends in the publishing world that I would have never made otherwise. By showing up and posting on social media (even just a little), I’ve been able to be in contact with other book designers, authors who become clients, and authors who don’t become clients, but all are people I would consider a friend.
For mentors, anyone can be a mentor if you ask questions. I’ve had many great chats with designers and professionals outside of my field who have given great advice and encouragement along the way. I’ve reached out to people on Twitter, Reddit, I even got a creative director to give a portfolio review on Youtube! In person, every workplace I’ve had and even some of my current business clients is an opportunity to ask questions and learn from them. Every person and moment is a learning experience and mentorship opportunity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jfred.design
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jfred.design/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jfred.design
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@jfred.design
