Lucy Allen

Lucy Allen - Designer

Oxford, UK

Over 25 years designing educational and academic books, poetry and fiction at Weidenfeld, HarperCollins, Oxford University Press

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Overview

My greatest satisfaction comes from working in a team of people to produce a piece of work that we are all happy with. The process of sharing the information and background to a project is so important and I never underestimate the communication at the beginning that enables the eventual pulling together of all elements to create something that looks right and fits the budget.


I have worked extensively on English Language Teaching books for the adult market, doing interior design and covers. I have also been involved with developing design branding for primary and secondary level books for Macmillan Education. As well as getting the right structure and layout for these books, I have enjoyed producing lively facsimiles and creating infographics and icons that enhance the product and more importantly help the user to navigate and understand the text.


Whilst I was a text designer at Weidenfeld and Nicolson and HarperCollins I worked on more high profile projects – biographies with plate sections, as well as an extremely varied fiction list. I enjoy the subtlety and detailed typographical attention needed to design poetry books and it was a highlight of my career to work on J.M. Dent’s Centenary edition of Dylan Thomas’ poetry.

Languages
English
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
Education & Reference
ELT
Fiction
Literary Fiction
Poetry

Work experience

Graphic Designer

Freelance
April, 2015 – Present (almost 8 years)

Senior Designer

Oxford University Press
September, 1998 – October, 2014 (about 16 years)

Senior Designer

HarperCollins Publishers
March, 1992 – August, 1998 (over 6 years)

Designer

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd
February, 1988 – March, 1992 (about 4 years)

Designer

Routledge & Kegan Paul
March, 1986 – February, 1988 (almost 2 years)

Portfolio (8 selected works)

The Hobbit

Tolkien, J.R.R., Lee, Alan

The Notebook Poems, 1930-34

Thomas, Dylan, Maud, Ralph

The Pig Poets: An Anthology of Porcine Poesy

Hogge, Henry, Viccars, Peter

Lucy has 2 reviews

Professionalism
Professionalism
Quality
Quality
Value
Value
Communication & Punctuality
Communication & Punctuality

Tim Gentles
Really enjoyed working with Lucy, great communication throughout the project and am really pleased with the design she came up with.

Tim Gentles, August 2021


Erica Shugart
Lucy was such a pleasure to work with. I am so pleased with how my book turned out. Now that my book is complete, I'm feeling a bit sad that our correspondence and collaboration is over. She was an easy person to communicate with and explained her process in detail and in a language that I could understand. She was patient, thorough, and personable. Her work is superb! I love the layout and the...
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Erica Shugart, June 2021

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