S9E4: Na Kim

Na Kim is an associate creative director at the book publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Kim talked about how authors fear being misunderstood when someone designs a cover for their book:

I think it's really important to convey to them: Hey, I did read the book, I do care about this, and we're making these choices because we care about it. And maybe interpreting it this way, even though it's not what you may have originally envisioned, will bring your book to a whole new audience.

Follow The Design of Business | The Business of Design on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with everything going on at Design Observer.

Buy Self-Reliance, Jessica’s latest book

Subscribe to RaceAhead, Ellen’s regular newsletter on race and leadership for Fortune

If you enjoyed this conversation with Na, you might want to listen to Jessica’s earlier conversation with Teddy Blanks.

This season’s theme music is from Solar Echoes, by Nigel Stanford.

And a big thanks to this season’s sponsor, Mailchimp.

Posted in: Books, Business, Design of Business | Business of Design

Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer. A former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Eye and Communications Arts magazine, she is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame. Jessica received both her BA and MFA from Yale University where she has taught since 1994. In 2013, she won the AIGA medal.

Award-winning journalist Ellen McGirt covers race, culture, and leadership in a daily column for Fortune entitled RaceAhead. Her reporting has taken her inside the C-suites of companies including Facebook, Nike, Twitter, Intel, Xerox, and Cisco; on the campaign trail with Barak Obama; and across Africa with Bono to study breakthrough philanthropy.

Jobs | June 10