More in this series
Flexibility, Distillation, and Immersion: Ellen Weinstein, Catapult Artist for March 2019
Filling that blank space is a mix of excitement and agony.
Recipes for Good Luck The Atlantic The New York Times


Can you tell us a bit about your process from start to final execution?
I start every project with pencil and paper thumbnails, including personal projects. If I am working with text, I like to distill down to one sentence what I want to convey in an image. Once I know what I want to say and the feeling I want to create, I sketch many thumbnails. I need to see an idea on paper to know if it is going to work or not. I paint in gouache and compose the final art in Photoshop.
“waiting and wading in a pool of red.”

And for “How to Move Through the Dark,” it was “mother’s arms at water’s edge.”


Nicole is the Creative Director of Catapult, Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press. She is also the co-founder of She Designs Books, an organization that celebrates women in book design. She was formerly VP, Creative Director at Hachette Book Group.
Awards include a Silver Cube from the Art Director's Club/The One Show for Creativity, Communication Arts, Type Director's Club, AIGA/NY, HOW International Design, PRINT Regional Design, the New York Book Show, the National Gold Ink Awards, London International Creative Competition, STEP Design Magazine, and the Publishing Professionals Network.
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“How am I telling the story, and how am I representing the people in that story?”: Sara Wong, Catapult Artist for December 2019
“It’s not enough to consider the content—how am I presenting the content?”
The Challenges of Distilling Metaphor into Art: Kim Salt, Catapult Artist for November 2019
“Always meet your deadlines, do good work, and be easy to get along with.”
“Self-belief gets you quite far as an illustrator”: Hannah Lock, Catapult Artist for October 2019
“Refrain yourself from throwing things away. Even if you think you’re going nowhere with what you’re creating.”
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“It’s important to make time for friends and sunshine.”: Meryl Rowin, Catapult Artist for April 2019
“In college, I think there was this idea floating around that a real illustrator worked all night—and if they weren’t, they were half ass-ing it. [Now,] I like to give my brain some time to absorb and to rest in equal measure.”
Stirring Ideas to Life: Sirin Thada, Catapult Artist for May 2019
By leaving her job as a lawyer and taking a leap of faith to become a full-time illustrator, Sirin Thada says, “I was finally honoring a part of me that had been there all along.”
“Craft your style carefully to own it!”: Shanee Benjamin, Catapult Artist for February 2020
“Find a unique niche and rock out! Understand that your illustration style is yours.”