This is 10 Questions, an interview series where we get to know the designers from the directory a little better. Today, meet Elisha Zepeda. Elisha is a designer at Faceout Studio living in the Pacific Northwest. Recently, he’s been creating process videos and posting them on TikTok and Instagram. These extremely viral videos are wildly popular, racking up millions of views. Check out his personal portfolio site here.
1. Visually take us through your professional journey. Create a diagram that summarizes your career to date.
2. When did you realize that you wanted to become a book cover designer? Did you stumble into this career or intentionally pursue it?
Elisha Zepeda: I didn’t know it was real thing until I was 23. I had given up on design and was working at an indie bookstore/cafe. When it was slow I’d collect piles of books that had similar trends. There was the Lydian font pile (Silent Patient, Pilgrimage to Eternity). The abstract blob pile (Vanishing Half, Detransition Baby). The grayscale emotional pile (A Little Life, Briefly Gorgeous).
3. If you couldn’t design book covers for a living (or hold any job in the creative field), what’s another career that you think you would’ve excelled in or have wanted to try?
Elisha Zepeda: Oh man..so many things. I always think about if I quit all my jobs and pursued music. Maybe I still will someday. I’m not good enough to be a front man, but I’ve played guitar/bass/drums/keys in many different bands since I was a teen, and have self-recorded/released a handful of albums. I’d love to be a producer or a touring band member for an act I really like. It’s the one part of my life that feels like I’m actively playing with a childlike curiosity.
4. Do you ever go through periods where you feel completely creatively tapped out? How do you refill your cup and then get back to work?
Elisha Zepeda: Absolutely. Not working is my fix for this. If I know I’m not gonna be productive I’m not gonna try. Get some sun, play an instrument, be with friends, listen to music, cook a meal, get inspired. I wholeheartedly believe workweeks should be 3.5 days and that humans would be as “productive” in that timeframe. Our brain turns to mush in an 8 hour day for 5 days straight.
5. What’s one creative skill you wish you had time to pursue so that you could incorporate it into future designs?
Elisha Zepeda: Hmm. Analog collaging. I’m jealous of people who have the time and patience to do that. But it looks so dang good especially on a book cover.
6. Spread good design. Who is one (non-book-cover) graphic designer or artist that we should check out?
Elisha Zepeda: Okay I have to share 2.
Love Hulten. His work is mind-boggling to me. It’s next level design that physically functions. He handcrafts retro technology into what we all thought the future would look like.
Ryan Heshka. I’ve always wanted a room in my house that was wall to wall vintage sci-fi posters. The stuff that was handdrawn or painted – it’s all stunning, every detail. The colors, the handlettering. Heshka keeps this artform alive and I’m very thankful for it.
7. Which celebrity memoir are you dying to work on?
Elisha Zepeda: I’m a sucker for soft-spoken folkies — Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Sufjan Stevens. I’m fascinated by all their lives and the art they made.
8. We all know that great covers get killed. How often does something you submit get chosen in the very first round, and how often do you have to go through multiple rounds before you get final approval?
Elisha Zepeda: Oh man. Almost never. I’ve had luck with Chicago Press lately though – our design sensibilities line up really well, and I think 4 of the last 5 I’ve done with them have been no change approvals. Their authors almost always reach out to me personally as well saying they love the cover.
You can kind of tell from the client’s brief how many rounds it’ll go. Some will be super specific in their requests for font, color, imagery, etc. — so that can make life easy. We usually wrap up within 2-3 rounds. In my freelance work I actually have made it mandatory that reference covers/moodboards be sent my way, and I almost always can knock out a design in 1-2 rounds because of that.
The more vague requests like “something beautiful” or “abstract” or “bold” end up going through 5+ revisions, usually because the client isn’t completely sure of what they want when starting out. Sometimes that exploration is nice, sometimes it’s not as fun.
9. About how many times have you written “a novel” on a piece of paper and then scanned it? (IYKYK)
Elisha Zepeda: Confession. I use my co-worker Amanda Hudson’s “A Novel” on most of my designs… she gave me permission, and she’s got the best “A Novel” in the biz.
10. The INABC Exit Question. You’re at a party and you just told a stranger that you’re a book cover designer. What’s the most common response you get from people when they hear this?
Elisha Zepeda: “Do you read every book you design?”
I brainstormed clever responses to this with a friend of mine, and he said my line should be “I usually wait for the movie to come out.” Thanks Evan.
Thank you, Elisha!
You MUST check out Elisha’s incredibly viral process videos. Find them on TikTok or Instagram:
