Book Cover for Heartbreak to Heartland
We were tasked by Hog Press to design the cover for a book by author Jim Burns (Jacksonville, Florida) titled Heartbreak to Heartland: Children of the Orphan Train, which will be published in September of 2026. The narrative starts in 1911 when a mother of two children dies during the Triangle Waist Shirt Factory fire […]
Poster for Theory Seminar on Surfaces
A while back, well, to be precise, back in 1997, we designed a poster for a new theory seminar for Mikesch Muecke who was at that time teaching in the Department of Architecture at Iowa State University. The course was titled Notes on the Depth of Surfaces: From Making to Architectural Topics, and below is […]
Cover Design for Book by Julie Schlarman
We were tasked with designing the cover for Julie Schlarman’s book titled The Park: Historical Musings of an Urban Retreat – Eagle Point Park, Dubuque, Iowa, published by Hog Press. Initially we cycled through several cover images taken by polytekton, then settled on the final version which shows one of the quarry-like ponds in the […]
Bookmark Design for Culicidae Press
We were tasked by Culicidae Press to design a bookmark that could be inserted in mailing-campaign envelopes and handed out a public-relations events. Because Culicidae Press is the mothership for some other imprints, we imagined listing not only the main press but also the imprints, such as Hog Press, Handcar Press, and Zanzara Press. Lining […]
Book Design for Poetry Book by Gopal Lahiri
We were tasked by Hog Press, an imprint of Culcidae Press® to design the interior and the cover for Gopal Lahiri’s book of poetry, to be released in January 2026. After conferring with the author about the meaning of the title—he was imagining the sting of the wasp as one of those challenges in life […]
New Year’s Letter for Culicidae Press and Its Imprints
We were tasked by Culicidae Press and its imprints to design a New Year’s letter showing of the company’s work during 2025. Overall there were twenty-eight books. Since full covers (verso, spine, and recto) consist of horizontal images, we decided on a 3-column layout on an 8.5 x 11 paper size. This yielded thirteen covers […]
Book Design for James T. Colbert
No, not that Colbert. This is James T. Colbert who started his academic career in 1985 at Colorado State University and then taught at Iowa State University for 33 years. We designed the book and the cover for In Your Nature, a reflective, nature-focused memoir in the tradition of Aldo Leopold, E.O. Wilson, and Annie […]
Book Design for Fern Kupfer’s Latest Book
Fern Kupfer’s latest book, Strong Women in Chicago, was released today at Culicidae Press. We designed the cover and the interior during the last few weeks. The cover shows a view of the Chicago skyline from west of the Loop, where SWIC, the Strong Women in Chicago gym is located. We generated the skyline issue […]
Book Cover for Mohammad Tavallaei Book
We just completed the design of the cover for Mohammad Tavallei’s latest book with Handcar Press, an imprint of Culicidae Press. The four covers (one will be chosen for the publication) show three characters, i.e. the executioner, his wife, and her lover but aside from the gender, it’s not clear who is the executioner or […]
Architecture Faculty Exhibition
As part of an Iowa State University Architecture Faculty Exhibition, I designed the layout for a selected group of books I edited, designed, and published for Culicidae Press and its imprints Culicidae Architectural Press, Hog Press, Handcar Press, Zanzara Press, Musca Press, and Obvious Press. The design consists of a 1′-wide banner at the top […]