Start with the idea
Translate the subject into a visual concept that gives readers a reason to engage. The sketches for The EQ Way and Life Skills for All Learners show different ways to express navigation, growth, and possibility.
Art/Creative Direction
ASCD Books: Creative Direction at Hatcher
ASCD
Challenge
A book cover has to make an idea worth exploring before a reader opens the book. For ASCD’s professional learning titles, that means giving complex subjects a clear visual entry point while speaking to educators who need practical guidance. Across this body of work at Hatcher, the creative challenge was to give each book a distinct identity and support its content with a clear, consistent reading experience.
Creative Approach
The book’s central idea shaped the visual direction. A wave gives emotional intelligence a sense of navigation through turbulence. A flowering branch expresses growth. Illustrated educator archetypes bring a book about driving change to life. Across the collection, conceptual illustration, expressive typography, photography, and graphic pattern offer different ways into the subject. Interior design extends that thinking through chapter openers, readable text, and carefully organized figures and resources.
My Role
As Creative Director at Hatcher, I guided the creative direction of this publishing work with the design team and ASCD. My focus was the connection between the book’s message and its visual expression: helping shape concepts, reviewing design development, and keeping the cover and interior experience aligned with the needs of the reader.
Collaborators
Created through The Hatcher Group in collaboration with ASCD’s publishing team. The selected covers, illustrations, and interior layouts reflect the work of Hatcher’s designers and art directors under my creative direction.
The Approach
Insight into ideas.
Ideas into experience.
Develop a distinct expression
Explore composition, imagery, color, and typography together. The cover studies show how changes in hierarchy and placement refine the relationship between title, author, and visual idea.
Design for sustained reading
Carry the visual language into the publication with restraint. Chapter openers establish rhythm, while headings, diagrams, tables, and resources help readers move between explanation and practical application.
Selected Creative
A closer look
at the work.
Exploring the central metaphor
Early concepts for The EQ Way explore mazes, light, and turbulent water. Comparing these directions makes the conceptual choices visible before color and finished typography enter the design.
View the Artwork ↗Giving the idea a finished form
The finished wave concept connects directly to the subtitle’s turbulent times. The large title holds its place within the illustration, while the warm horizon adds a contrasting sense of possibility.
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Finding a language for growth
The Life Skills for All Learners sketches test branches, radiating forms, and flowing lines. They show how a broad educational subject can lead to several distinct visual interpretations.
View the Artwork ↗Building a composition around the concept
The flowering branch becomes the organizing element of the finished cover, balancing the title and author information while giving the book a recognizable visual identity.
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Refining hierarchy across the publication
These Educating for Global Competence studies compare title and author placement alongside interior layouts. The sequence shows the relationship between expressive cover typography and the more restrained organization of the reading pages.
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Creating a visual language that can travel
Winding pencils frame the title of Critical Thinking in the Elementary Classroom. The illustration establishes a flexible motif that can connect the cover to the content inside.
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Carrying the concept into the chapter
A single pencil motif marks the chapter opening without competing with the text. A clear distinction between headings, body copy, and references supports the reading experience.
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Making complex material easier to navigate
The Rigor by Design spread brings a process diagram, related resources, chapter heading, and explanatory text into a consistent hierarchy. The design helps readers distinguish the structure of the material at a glance.
View the Artwork ↗The Result
Creative with
a clear purpose.
The collection demonstrates creative direction across a range of education subjects and visual approaches. Each title has its own point of view, supported by the shared discipline of clear hierarchy, purposeful imagery, and organized content. Together, the covers, concept studies, and interior spreads show how the Hatcher team translated educational ideas into distinctive publications.