Going Undercover // An Interview With Book Cover Illustrator, Vivienne To

Hello, my fellow Nancy Drews, Scooby-Doos, Sherlock Holmeses, and Doctor Watsons! Get excited (like, opening-night-of-Avengers-Endgame-level excited) because it’s time for the final installment of the, “Going Undercover” series! So go grab that monogramed magnifying glass of yours (what do you mean you still don’t have one, Jan? I’ve been telling you to fix that since I first started this feature!) and get ready to go sleuthing, because today the talented illustrator, Vivienne To, is going to be sharing some of her trade secrets with us!

In case you missed it, “Going Undercover” is a feature here on Novels & Waffles where I interview the many wonderful artists behind the book covers that we adore so much. Hopefully, this will better connect the illustration community with the book community, help foster mutual support, and spotlight creators of all kinds.

Let’s start off with something easy (or if you’re like me and struggle with introducing yourself – something difficult). Please tell me about yourself and some background about how you broke into the illustration industry.

Hi, Kat, and thanks so much for having me! I’m an Australian illustrator currently based in New Zealand. I started my career in animated TV and film, creating designs for the art department. I got to design things like characters, props and sets. I did this for about 5 years before breaking into illustration for children’s publishing. I loved working in movies, but I’d always been interested in book illustration too. It wasn’t until I started branching out into kids magazine work that I had more relevant portfolio examples. My agent, Shannon Associates, saw these and reached out to ask if I wanted representation for this type of work. I actually already knew of them and the range of artists they represented. It seemed in line with the kind of work I wanted to do, so I said yes. This was back in 2012 and I’ve been really busy ever since! My portfolio wasn’t as well rounded when I first started. In the beginning, I was often a client’s second or third choice of artist…so I felt like I really had to prove myself with my first few projects.

Most of us readers know very little about how a book cover comes into existence. Can you explain to me a bit about the process?

It starts off with an art director from a publishing house contacting my agent and assigning me on a project. There’s a whole other in-house process before that to choose an artist, but I don’t see that side of things! I’m then sent the cover brief. This can vary a lot. Sometimes I just get a manuscript and am asked to come up with a range of ideas. Other times there’s a really clear concept that I need to work to. And in some cases, the manuscript isn’t actually ready yet, so I’m working with clear directions from the author and editors.

After that, I go and sketch some ideas. How many I do really depends on how much the art director wants me to explore. From there, the art director shares my sketches with the team and gathers feedback to send me notes. At this stage, they’ll usually send a mockup of the sketch with the title placement, so I know how much space to leave for the text. I’ll then revise the sketch based on the feedback. After this, I’ll sometimes work on a colour rough. Other times I go straight to final, but it really depends on what the team wants to see. I get sent any feedback from that, and from there, I’ll take it to finished art. For all these steps, I work digitally in Photoshop. 

As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Who else do you usually work with when illustrating a book cover and what is it like? 

It certainly does! The person I work with the most is the art director or designer. This is often (but not always) the same person who does the text design, so we need to make sure we’re both working towards the same goal. This person is basically my point of contact with the rest of the team. This includes the editorial team, the author, the sales & marketing team, and anyone else involved in the project at the publishing house. All feedback goes through the art director, which helps keep everything clear. Most communication is via email. This works really well for me, as I’m in a totally different time zone here in New Zealand. I’ve never met most of the designers I’ve worked with, even though I’ve worked with some of them for several years across multiple book series! I don’t normally have direct contact with the author throughout the cover process. But, we’ll often connect later on social media, which is really nice.

Do you usually read a book before you start illustrating its cover? If so, out of all of the books you’ve illustrated covers for, which one have you felt the strongest personal connection to?

When it’s available, I’ll usually want to read it. This is particularly important if I’m asked to explore a wide range of ideas. I need to know the feel of the story and any different narrative moments or settings that I could suggest and bring together. Otherwise, if the editors and art director have a really clear idea of what they want and a specific concept, then they’ll usually just give me the information that I need (character descriptions, story excerpts, etc). It’s also not too uncommon for the full manuscript not to be ready yet, as marketing for books needs to start so early. When that happens, we’ll work from descriptions and ideas from the author and editor.

It’s hard to say which one I’ve had the strongest connection to. How do you pick a favourite?? Usually it’ll be the ones where I’ve worked on a whole series, so I feel like I’ve followed the characters on their journey. I really loved The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins.

I absolutely love the dynamic colors and use of lines in the Dragon Pearl cover art. What was your inspiration behind this piece? 

Thank you! For this book, the art director at Disney (Tyler Nevins) told me that the team wanted Min, the main character, front and center. I was so excited that they wanted her face visible and she wasn’t silhouetted. I’m from an Asian background, so it was exciting to be able to feature an Asian character in a heroic, epic sci-fi book cover. I really wanted kids to see themselves on covers the way that I didn’t as a kid .Visually, I wanted this to feel grand and for the setting to feel big and full of potential. We went with a simple composition that wasn’t overcrowded to help achieve this.

How many different versions of a cover do you usually go through before a final design is settled upon?

How long is a piece of string? This varies a LOT. Some covers go incredibly smoothly and a sketch gets approved and goes straight through to final art. Other times, sketches get revised over and over, and sometimes even the whole direction changes. So my unhelpful answer to this question is: it depends!

Is illustrating book covers different than illustrating other projects you have worked on? If so, what aspects make the process unique?

On a cover, you really only have room to show a few major ideas. The goal is to create a visually striking and appealing image. One that conveys the energy and tone of the story inside. And one that also reads clearly as a tiny thumbnail and also a larger print. That’s a lot to pack into a single picture.

Compared to my movie concept art, it’s really different. In film, you’re designing elements that are created for a bigger project. That work informs the look of the film, but your final art isn’t usually seen by audiences.

Every artist has their own workflow. Could you share a little about yours? What are the major steps of your creative process?

My workflow is usually some variation of:

1. Read. I read the art director brief and/or book manuscript. I highlight keywords and descriptions and gather any main points.
2. Gather reference. For every project I usually gather multiple folders full of reference imagery. This helps get my head into project and process it all.
3. Sketch ideas.
4. Revise. I’ll apply any feedback notes and revise again, if needed.
5. Paint and take the art to finish.
6. Tweak. Sometimes a couple of tweaks come back once the text is laid out.

One big part of my process is being able to step back and think during this workflow. Ideas can take time to percolate. I’m normally juggling multiple projects at once, so it helps to be able to step away from one, work on another job, and then come back to the first one with fresh eyes.

What piece of artwork from your portfolio are you most proud of? Why is it your favorite?

This is hard to say! I think any artist is their own worst critic and I’m no exception. But I’m proud of my recent work on “When You’re Going To The Moon”, a picture book I illustrated that was written by Sasha Beekman. It’s published by an indie Australian publisher, so you may not be familiar with it. It’s a sweet story about dreaming big.

How can members of the bookish community better support book cover illustrators, such as yourself?

I would love to see more people crediting the illustrators and designers! Particularly when it comes to cover reveals. It’s so common to see cover reveals that have zero mention of who worked on the cover. And so much work does go into them. If the illustrator and designer names aren’t provided, just ask. Or look to find out. Our names are listed on the jacket flaps or back covers. There are a few authors and bloggers who are really fantastic about always crediting the artists (and I appreciate that so much), but they seem to be the exception. It would be amazing if this became the norm.

Thank you so much, Vivienne, for taking time out of your busy schedule to go undercover with us and explain a bit about your work as a book cover illustrator!

More About The Illustrator

Vivienne is an Australian illustrator and visual development artist working in film and publishing.

She loves creating interesting characters and creatures for imaginary worlds. She has designed for several animated feature films including The Lego Movie, The Lego Batman Movie and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.

Her publishing work includes middle grade book covers for Wild Rescuers by StacyPlays, Story Thieves by James Riley, Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond by Sayantani DasGupta, Arlo Finch by John August and The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins.

Support Vivienne On Her:

Website・Instagram ・Twitter・Facebook

*All images in this post are included with the artist’s permission*

What do you think of Vivienne’s art? Isn’t it just AMAZING?

What have you thought about the “Going Undercover” series? Have you learned anything new? Are you going to do anything differently?

Share your thoughts in the comments!