Designing the Cover for Mr Blank – A Creative Journey

Creating a book cover is a task I really enjoy – but it’s a delicate dance between the designer’s vision and the author’s intent. Recently, I had the pleasure of designing the cover for Mr Blank by Dean Manning. It was a collaborative process, filled with tweaks, iterations, and thoughtful discussions, ultimately leading us to a design that captured the essence of the story.

The process began with my initial concept: a vibrant, colourful design that I felt encapsulated the mood and energy of the book. However, after several rounds of feedback – six, to be precise – the final version emerged as a more subdued, sepia-toned cover. This shift to a monotone palette reflected the author’s vision, and while I completely understood their preference, I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sadness as the colour faded away.

As a designer, it’s my job to interpret a story visually and work closely with the author to bring their ideas to life. The author knows their work better than anyone else, and my ultimate goal is always to ensure they’re happy with the result. In this case, Dean Manning’s preference for a more understated, sepia-toned cover better matched the themes and tone of Mr Blank.

That said, I can’t help but wonder: does the absence of colour make the design more striking or less so? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Which version resonates with you more – the bold and vibrant original, or the final, more muted design?

Designing book covers is a journey of compromise and collaboration, and every project teaches me something new. For Mr Blank, it was a reminder of the power of subtlety and the importance of aligning design with an author’s vision. What’s your take? Let me know in the comments!

The AI debate in creative work

Pentagram Performance.gov

Pentagram, one of the most iconic creative agencies, recently made headlines by using AI software MidJourney for a government project. This decision has sparked a passionate debate within the design community, and here’s my perspective:

AI technology often leverages the work of countless creators without acknowledgment or compensation. While AI has its place in simplifying repetitive tasks, should it ever replace the essence of human creativity—the heart and soul of artistic expression?

Another glaring issue is accessibility. Pentagram chose not to use Public Sans, the official US Government font specifically designed for inclusivity. For a project of this scale and importance, this feels like a significant oversight. Accessibility in design isn’t a bonus—it’s a necessity.

On the bright side, this linked insight into the iterative process of design is fascinating and highlights the evolving nature of creative work. But it also raises a critical question: where do we draw the line when integrating AI into our creative industries?

Let’s open the floor for discussion. What are your thoughts on AI’s role in creativity? Is it a tool, a threat, or something else entirely?

#AIDebate #GraphicDesign #CreativeIndustry #Accessibility #DesignEthics

The Inspiring Journey of Victor Cattaneo: A Life of Courage, Love, and Resilience

There are some lives so extraordinary that they demand to be shared, preserved, and celebrated. Victor Cattaneo’s story is one of those—a life marked by bravery, adventure, and enduring love. With the help of his family, Victor’s incredible journey was immortalized in print, designed by me and published by Puncher and Wattmann, it is an enduring testimony to his remarkable experiences.

From his days as a teenage member of the Italian resistance, narrowly escaping danger at every turn, to his bold decision to seek a new life in Australia, Victor’s life is a testament to courage and determination. His story doesn’t end there—he went on to become a union representative, advocate for workers’ rights, and later, an opal miner in the harsh yet captivating Australian outback.

Central to his life’s tale is his enduring love story with Margaret, the woman who stood by his side through countless chapters of change and challenge. The book doesn’t just recount Victor’s exploits; it is a tribute to the life they built together. Recently, I learned of Margaret’s passing, and it touched my heart deeply to see a photo of her holding the book—a poignant reminder of the legacy they created together.

Victor’s story is proof that every life holds the potential for an epic tale. If you’ve ever dreamed of putting your own extraordinary journey into words, consider taking the leap. With the right team—publishers, editors, and designers—your story could inspire generations to come.

If you’re in need of a designer to bring your book to life, I’d be delighted to help. Let’s ensure that the stories worth telling are beautifully shared with the world.

Mum can you do our invitations?

Firstly a huge congratulations to my beautiful daughter Matilda and her now husband Yulan - what an incredible day that was! Matilda asked me if I would help out with her wedding and of course I was absolutely 100% excited and on board. They had decided the day was going to be fun with lots of dancing and partying so had the idea of disco. Now that’s a brief I can really run with so we sat down together and went through all the adobe fonts and Matilda liked quite a few which gave me some scope to play around. I loved the font ‘funkydori’ which was not only fun with a 1970’s age of disco vibe, but also has a range of glyphs to play around with, check out the ‘Y’s’ on the image below of the website I created for the event.

First step was putting together a website with all the information for guests, I animated all the fireworks so they ‘went off’ as you scrolled down the page. I got the invites printed and then turned the kitchen into a production line while I re-trimmed and scored them all ready for posting, Matilda had ordered the gold envelopes which kind of dictated the size of the cards, nice big and square. Amazingly the postage within Australia was exactly the same as the international postage ($3 each) due to the unusual size. A tip for the uninitiated is to make sure you write 'CARD ONLY’ on the international ones - I forgot to do this and had a few restless nights wondering if they were going to be returned, they were not! Phew!

I discovered that Australia Post will print personalised stamps (you can’t use these for overseas addresses unfortunately), so I got a photo from their first date and set up the addresses to be printed on label paper. To be honest this was perhaps the most frustrating part of the whole job as it was difficult to use the clunky template that was online - but after a few attempts I got there.

Matilda’s wedding dress was found in an op shop on the South Coast and needed some adjusting, initially she thought we could just take it up but we ended up spending a couple of weekends tinkering with it to get it just right. We removed some lacy sleeves and the bodice so we could take the skirt up at the waist then added horsehair braid to the bottom of the lace to make it sit properly. There were a few nervous moments when I was putting the zip back in but after a couple of attempts I got it right.

My other daughter Elinor arrived a couple of nights before the hen’s party with some ideas for games they could play on their weekend away. We had a lot of fun coming up with the ideas, and I especially enjoyed this one - ‘Guess Which Celebrity Couple?’ I confess I got a little carried away, I even put their faces on a portrait of the royal family he he he.

The day before the big day we got up at 4am and went to the Sydney flower markets as we were doing all our own flowers. The reality of 6 bridesmaids came home to roost and I was a little panicked about my $500 budget. I needn’t have been, we got the perfect amount and all the bouquets were spectacular, very proud of myself and Ellie on this one. It was really special to be with my daughters and all the bridesmaids who have been friends since year 7 and make up all the bouquets.

Turned out there were also some last minute emergency graphics needed. I didn’t have my computer but luckily Matilda had a subscription to Adobe and I had put all the hens weekend graphics on Elinor’s google drive so I was able to put them together - now that was a bit stressful but we got it done! Everything looked so fabulous on the day, and the reception at the Polish club in Ashfield went off without a hitch. Matilda wore my wedding dress to the reception which was just really really special to me. She rocked it!

Stitch & Bitch

Getting creative in practical ways with some more sewing. It's lovely to get off the computer every now and then and actually make something tangible. The bonus is now I have all my cushions covered. All materials sourced from collections from my grandmother, marketplace and op shops so everything from the zips to the trims is upcycled. Gotta love some reuse!

#upcycle #retrofabrics #reuse #sewingproject #mirandadougasdesign

Little Fri-Yay funny for all the designers

lol

Shout out to Ellen Lupton

Shout out to #ellenlupton. In my work as a graphic design educator Ellen’s books have been the most amazing resource with everything you need to know presented beautifully and communicated in an approachable and accessible way - thank you for your amazing work which has really helped me to inspire my students!

Mitch Tambo – sharing language, and teaching us about cultural pride

It was so incredible to see Mitch Tambo perform ‘Great Southern Land’ in Gamilaraay language with Reigan Derry at the SCG on Friday night. Not just because they are both amazing singers, and it’s beautiful to hear the words in language, but for me mainly because they played the clip with all the words written in language up on the enormous screen. Making this language accessible to everyone for me is a huge part of all Australians embracing our incredible and ancient cultural heritage. Mitch has a powerful message of love and peace and acceptance and wishes to empower younger generations across all cultures to celebrate their identity and to feel confident to sing in their native languages. Here's a link to the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ughiq_Z334Q

What you talking about Willis?

When communicating ideas it’s can be really hard to get the message straight. I like to have a really good conversation first, preferably not over email, to make sure we are all on the same page. I also have a branding questionnaire for clients to fill out before we start anything major like a new logo or brand. A bit more communicating in the beginning makes the process easier for everyone. How do others feel about filling out forms to help get their ideas down? 

Saul Bass

The poster for this film was designed by the amazing Saul Bass who I always like to point my students in the direction of cause often they don’t know about him. He was a real master of ‘less is more’ and a great way to talk about some of my favourite design elements and principles like scale, line and colour. 

I went to see this movie with my cousin when I was about 12 - not recommended, I screamed so loud that when it was all over and the lights came on peeps were pointing at me saying ‘that’s the one who was screaming!’ I recently took the other pic of my daughter and her partner at the Millennium Biltmore hotel in LA as a homage to #StanleyKubrick well … WE thought it was pretty funny!

Good, Cheap Fast

This simple graphic I’ve seen many times as a venn diagram but never as an animation. I have often wished you could explain it really simply to clients ‘There are three things with design: GOOD, CHEAP, FAST but you can only have TWO!’

When I design the most important thing is definitely GOOD.

Indigenous art in public spaces

Wonderful to see this incredible work by local artist Grant Molony at Gosford Private Hospital recently. I have often thought how beautifully New Zealand incorporates Maori culture into it's design vocabulary just about everywhere and wondered why we don't see more of this happening with our indigenous culture here in Australia. It makes my heart sing to see this changing! 

You can read more about this artwork here

www.gosfordprivate.com.au/news/2021/our-new-foyer-takes-flight 

and make sure you check out Grant's FB and insta pages - there are some fabulous time lapses of Grant creating on there too.

Throwback Tuesday

Having a nostalgic moment today looking at some of my really early graphic design work. I found this example which could well be the very first paid identity job that I did. Loving its retro look now and remembering how contemporary it felt when first created! Noticed the date on the envelope and it’s the first of April - April fools - ha ha.

I am really happy to find this example of early work and see that consideration was made with the stock - a kind of semitransparent paper, the colour of the paper for the letterhead and envelopes to match. All done with a single colour no doubt to bring costs down.

So often we are tempted to throw things out and keep only digital records but it was a wonderful whiff of nostalgia to see and touch this old relic.

Sagmeister & Walsh BEAUTY

I’ve long been a fan of the work of the creative team Sagmeister and Walsh based in New York city. I’ve gone down to Melbourne to attend a workshop with Stefan Sagmeister and dragged a teenager daughter to one of his talks at the Livid Festival in Sydney - she enjoyed it too, phew. So I was excited to see this new collaborative exhibition about Beauty that Sagmeister and Walsh produced last year. Delving a little deeper I discovered this 10 minute talk about Beauty and how

‘Something was lost when functionality replaced beauty in art and design’.

Now that we all have more time to reflect, my vote is we get involved in creating more beauty in our world. Link to approximately 10min Sagmeister video talk here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXaF0bIthB0 and link to the page for the exhibition on their website here https://sagmeisterwalsh.com/work/all/beauty/ if you’ve got some spare time I highly recommend having a look at their other projects too.

Enjoy! Oh and any family members reading this, the printed book would make an excellent birthday present ……

Miranda x

Noma Bar and Creative Storytellling

I don’t know how many of you know the name Noma Bar but I’m pretty sure many of your will have seen his work. This short video (9minutes), tells us a bit about his design journey and in his inimitable style he accompanies the story with his incredible illustrations. I encourage everyone to take a few moments a day to engage with your own creativity.

https://vimeo.com/63862976

Superette cover - and thanks

It’s so great when clients get in touch to let you know they are happy. I’m thrilled with this recent email for the author of ‘Superette’ a book I recently did the cover for.

Hi Miranda, 

Hope you're well.  David Musgrave gave me your email address, ...firstly, a very belated thank you for the cover design you created for Superette.  That is, the deepest, sincerest thanks you could imagine!!  This cover was beyond my wildest expectations and really, I can't thank you enough...(even down to the shade of green on the spine, perfection).

Thanks again for your beautiful work.

With best regards, 

Melinda Bufton

Happy clients

It’s always great to get feedback from your clients. It lets you know where you are going right and where you have areas for improvement. I have been working with the Eastern Suburbs Liquor Accord on a number of projects and just got this feedback:

"Miranda has saved my life on many occasions!!! She has extremely fast turnaround time and consistently produces work of an extremely high quality. She is flexible in her approach and can adapt to a broad range of styles and briefs. The work she had produced for us at the Eastern Suburbs Liquor Accord has always been very well received. I can't recommend her highly enough!"

- Bec Ackland