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Na Kim

Art Director, Designer

Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Na completed her BFA in 2009 at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore

Na Kim’s work was highlighted in the It’s Nice That article, “Five designers and studios creating beautiful book covers.” Her work regularly appears in annual “best-of” roundups chosen by The New York Times, LitHub, and The Washington Post.

In December of 2023, she exhibited “a group of ten recent paintings from her ongoing series of imagined portraits” at White Columns Gallery in NYC. This was her first solo show. In a conversation with White Columns’ director Matthew Higgs, the artist elaborated on the origin of this collection:

“In the beginning, there was one subject—one imagined face. The series is my attempt to render that face over and over again. Which is to say that there was this platonic ideal that I was working towards, almost obsessively. Over time, I found that every new portrait I created looked the same but different, sometimes so different it could be understood as the face of someone else entirely. And yet the resemblance remained. The portraits are derivative, as opposed to carbon copies, as if each painting gives birth to the next – so there is a sort of genealogy to them.”

Shortly thereafter, The Metropolitan Opera of New York City selected one of her paintings from this series to anchor their marketing campaign for the musical Carmen.

Na Kim’s series design for Tove Ditlevsen’s Copenhagen Trilogy was cataloged in this detailed article by PRINT Mag (Zachary Petit, 2021). She delves into her process of designing Roberto Bolaño’s The Spirit of Science Fiction with AIGA’s Eye on Design. In 2017, she wrote a story for LitHub, called ‘When Your Favorite Writer Does Not Like Your Initial Cover Designs,’ detailing her process of designing the cover for Jeffrey Eugenides’s Fresh Complaint. Here’s a 2024 interview with Coveteur

In a conversation with The Creative Independent, she defined a “successful book cover” as such:

“Success is when everyone’s happy: the editor, the publisher, the author. We’re designing books a year ahead of when they’re released, so if I can still be really happy with the book when it comes out? Then I’ve done a good job.”

In February 2025, she was profiled in The New York Times.

Be sure to check out @Panolo Blahnik, a project she shares with fellow FSG designer, June Park.

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Na Kim

Art Director, Designer

Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Na completed her BFA in 2009 at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore

Na Kim’s work was highlighted in the It’s Nice That article, “Five designers and studios creating beautiful book covers.” Her work regularly appears in annual “best-of” roundups chosen by The New York Times, LitHub, and The Washington Post.

In December of 2023, she exhibited “a group of ten recent paintings from her ongoing series of imagined portraits” at White Columns Gallery in NYC. This was her first solo show. In a conversation with White Columns’ director Matthew Higgs, the artist elaborated on the origin of this collection:

“In the beginning, there was one subject—one imagined face. The series is my attempt to render that face over and over again. Which is to say that there was this platonic ideal that I was working towards, almost obsessively. Over time, I found that every new portrait I created looked the same but different, sometimes so different it could be understood as the face of someone else entirely. And yet the resemblance remained. The portraits are derivative, as opposed to carbon copies, as if each painting gives birth to the next – so there is a sort of genealogy to them.”

Shortly thereafter, The Metropolitan Opera of New York City selected one of her paintings from this series to anchor their marketing campaign for the musical Carmen.

Na Kim’s series design for Tove Ditlevsen’s Copenhagen Trilogy was cataloged in this detailed article by PRINT Mag (Zachary Petit, 2021). She delves into her process of designing Roberto Bolaño’s The Spirit of Science Fiction with AIGA’s Eye on Design. In 2017, she wrote a story for LitHub, called ‘When Your Favorite Writer Does Not Like Your Initial Cover Designs,’ detailing her process of designing the cover for Jeffrey Eugenides’s Fresh Complaint. Here’s a 2024 interview with Coveteur

In a conversation with The Creative Independent, she defined a “successful book cover” as such:

“Success is when everyone’s happy: the editor, the publisher, the author. We’re designing books a year ahead of when they’re released, so if I can still be really happy with the book when it comes out? Then I’ve done a good job.”

In February 2025, she was profiled in The New York Times.

Be sure to check out @Panolo Blahnik, a project she shares with fellow FSG designer, June Park.

Show More
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RunAndHide
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Heavy
Wednesday
Luster
Memorial
TheSunWalksDown
little eyes
CloseTohome.NaKim
TalkingAnimals
TenBridges
BlackoutsbyJustinTorres
TheBeeSting-DesignedbyNaKim
GrandTour_Poems_ElisaGonzalez
Unfinished Business
CowboyGraves
HestiaStrikesAMatch
TheRainHeron
TheStoryofH
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Interior-design-Na-Kim
Enigma-Variations-design-Na-Kim
The-Cook-design-Na-Kim
Minor-Feelings-Cathy-Park-Hong
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moonbound-book-cover-by-na-kim
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Designer Requirements

Only a carefully curated group of designers are given access to the creative briefs posted on the INABC Jobs Board. This system ensures that clients receive top-notch, focused proposals from professionals whose talents have been vetted

All designers who will be bidding on your cover design have applied to receive job notifications and have been approved by the INABC admin team. Our approved designers:

  • Are professional book cover designers, not simply generalist graphic designers.
  • Have been working in the industry for a minimum of 3 years, usually more.
  • Must demonstrate a contemporary aesthetic, creating work that feels current and relevant to today’s book design market. We seek professionals who stay informed on industry trends while pushing boundaries with innovative, forward-thinking designs. Our designers know that our clients are not looking for designs that feel “dated.”
  • Work on multiple book cover projects in any given month
  • Are committed to delivering high-quality, original designs tailored to each client’s unique vision. 
  • Do NOT sell or offer book cover premades. At INABC, we do not condone the offering of pre-made book covers. We are fans of highly bespoke cover work.
  • Do NOT use AI-generated imagery in their commercial work.
  • Have accessible online portfolios showcasing book cover work that are easy for anyone to review.
  • Have extensive experience working with self-publishing authors AND commercial presses.
  • Are available and excited to receive these weekly briefs.

If you are contacted by a designer that doesn’t align with the requirements described above, we ask that you please contact the INABC admin team at ineedabookcover.assistant@gmail.com.

Designer Disclaimer

INABC is not a full-service design agency. It’s a curated directory that helps you connect directly with talented freelance designers. Each designer handles their own pricing, process, and contracts. We encourage you to communicate clearly with your chosen designer and to review their portfolio carefully to make sure they’re a good fit for your project. Designers and authors are expected to draft, negotiate, and sign their own contracts to ensure that expectations, deliverables, and rights are clearly outlined before any work begins.

While we do our best to curate a talented community, INABC is not involved in the collaborations that follow and we cannot guarantee the outcome of individual projects with specific designers. If you run into an issue with a designer that you find from using INABC, we are open to learning about your experience, but ultimately, INABC will not be involved in any specific disputes. For more information, visit the For Authors page and read our Terms & Conditions.

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