This is 10 Questions, an interview series where we get to know the designers from the directory a little better. Today, meet Sofia Hericson! Sofia is a graphic designer and illustrator specializing in book design with over a decade of experience in the industry. She has worked across both bookshops and publishing houses. See more of her beautiful work here!
1. Visually take us through your professional journey. Create a diagram that summarizes your career to date.
2. 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?
Sofia Hericson: Yes 100%. Less so as a freelancer as I get to work on a wider range of projects, but when in-house, the idea of being creative 5 days a week 9-5 is just unsustainable. I like to go back to the very basics, sit down with my son at the kitchen table and draw kawaii things. Super simple, no feedback, no pressure, just pure fun and connection.
3. Based on experience, what city stands out to you as the most inspiring place to visit if you are an artist?
Sofia Hericson: Osaka! Hands down the best place to go. In Osaka you can find a bit of everything, can be a bit sensory overload, but it’s absolutely brilliant to fill your creative bucket.
4. 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?
Sofia Hericson: Running a cattery / cat hotel.
5. What’s your ideal auditory environment while working?
Sofia Hericson: I absolutely love working from cafes. If I’m really busy, I have to go to a cafe. The background noise of the coffee machines and people around me really gets me energised.
6. Where do you work?
Sofia Hericson: I have a little office with a desk and monitor etc. but when I’m there, I’m facing a wall, so I often end up working from my kitchen table where my view is like this:
7. What’s one creative skill you wish you had time to pursue so that you could incorporate it into future designs?
Sofia Hericson: Definitely lettering. But for the moment I am focusing on photography – visual storytelling.
8. Spread good design. Who is one (non-book-cover) graphic designer or artist that we should check out?
Sofia Hericson: Add Fuel (Diogo Machado)
9. If you could commission a custom piece of art from any artist, dead or alive, and collaborate with them on a book cover, which artist would you choose and what genre would this hypothetical book be?
Sofia Hericson: Björk, and it would be an environmental dystopian novel. Although come to think of it, I would be extremely star struck and wouldn’t be able to do any work. It would be a disaster!
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?
Sofia Hericson: ‘Oh wow that’s such a cool job! It must be such an incredible feeling to walk into a bookshop and see your work on display!’
