I have created covers, interiors designs, and typeset books for small independent trade publishers as well as international publishing companies such as Yale University Press. I have specialized in exhibition catalogs for art museums, artist monographs for university presses, books on natural history, photography, cookbooks, children’s illustrated books, and literary titles.It has been my pleasure to work with a wide range of clients, including authors, artists, collectors, museum curators, and directors and I love them all, even the challenging ones. Having flexibility, a sense of calm, and thorough understanding of the process goes a long way in making people confident they will get the end result they want.
My approach to working with authors is pretty straightforward. It starts with a conversation or interview, where we get to know each other. I ask a series of questions to get a sense of their creative vision and taste in design. Of course, having at least a portion of the manuscript, edited or not, is extremely helpful in developing a concept, particularly for the cover. The conversation hits on many topics including content and intended audience, the books organization, basic design interests, typography, color, and so on. Once we get started, the communication continues through design reviews and revision. In the end, my goal is for the author to be happy, me to be happy, and for the book to sell successfully.
Michelle Komie
Publisher, Art and Architecture at PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
July 9, 2019, Michelle was a client of Jeff’s
I've worked with Jeff for over a decade now, first at Lucia Marquand and then as a freelance designer. He's one of the most flexible and skillful freelance designers I know, and has designed major books on everything from mid-century modern architecture (Lambert / Building Seagram) to Asian decorative arts (Pate / Kanban) to 19th-century French art (Crow / Restoration). He is a outstanding collaborator--highly professional, excellent communication, gorgeous typographic sense, creative, great ideas, production minded, and budget-conscious. I would wish any author or publisher the pleasure of working with him.
Susan M. Neider
Publisher at Rainstone Press
Exceptionally talented, artistically versatile, sensitive to the huge impact of tiny typographic detail, professional, communicative, articulate, prompt, and affordable are all words that come to mind when thinking of Jeff Wincapaw's outstanding qualities. Fuse them together and you have the ultimate book designer, one who can transform your formative thoughts and ideas into a polished and perfect work of art. There is no reason to look further than Jeff if you are searching for an experienced book designer who can do it all.
Non-Fiction
Architecture
Art
Cooking, Food, Wine, & Spirits
History
Nature
Photography