Arjan van Woensel – Designer

Hello, my name is Arjan, born and raised in the Netherlands but living in beautiful New Zealand.

Under the nom de guerre of Tenzing, I help people achieve their publishing aspirations. Together, we explore opportunities and I guide you to your publishing goal until — in the words of Sir Edmund Hillary — you knock the bastard off. I'm the Designer / Art Director who will forge ahead on the path to getting you a gorgeous, publishable book.

Let’s talk about your Everest and see if I can be your sherpa! 🤩

I've got tons of experience in print — the technical side of it as well as the visual aspects of it. I love a challenge and always aim to make a publication stand out. Typography is my forte and I go further than just creating an attractive cover: the perfect typesetting of the interior text is just as important to me.

Over the years, I've won many professional accolades. I'm afraid I seriously lost count of how many design & art direction awards I have won.

I'm a book nerd and built my own library room to keep all my favourite reads neatly together. Think of it as a research library for book design — I'm almost a bit ashamed to admit there are plenty of copies in my library that I bought just because of their looks. Oops! There, I said it.

I love cover designs with loads of character in it — whether that is bold and striking or clean and minimalist or playful and frank.

I aim to dramatise the main message the author wants to get across and I use solely my hands and my brain to create the artwork — no AI at all! In fact I aim to use zero AI and am a firm believer in something uniquely ownable: handmade art working together with distinct typography as advertising for your book.

But I'm at my very best when I can add that emotional layer of curiosity and intrigue to the design. I love it when a book makes a statement and is singular in its design. Let's make yours!

↪ Snippets of reviews I'm proud of:

“Arjan is such a talent! I'm certain that his artistry played a role in my #1 new release title. You won't regret a collaboration with Arjan.”

— Cee McDermott

"Not only is Arjan fabulously talented (his book covers have drawn rave reviews from readers), he is a warm, funny, and delightful person who is generous with helpful advice as you learn to navigate the publishing world."

— Martha Jackson

"Arjan is extremely talented and a master of his craft. He made putting this book together one of the most enjoyable professional experiences I've had. A blast to work with."

— Greg Bolanowski

"Arjan not only delivers quality ideas and designs, but he does so with enthusiasm and positive energy. He made a difficult project (for me) a fun process."

— Edward Opstein

“I must say, Arjan's work is state of the art. His thorough involvement, engagement and interaction during the project was second to none.”

— Sohan Gokarn