“It’s a great honor to lay eyes on a writer’s work and help give it a visual identity”: Nicole Caputo on Art, Design, and the First Year of the Catapult Artist Program

What brings you to a new story, author, or publication, and what keeps you coming back? The author does the primary work, of course, when it comes to telling the story, but there are other essential decisions to make when framing and presenting it to readers, from the title or headline to art selection and how it is shared on social media. If editors are being as thoughtful as possible in our daily work with writers, our suggestions to them about how to best shape their work, we should be just as thoughtful when it comes to the art we feature alongside that work.

Nicole Caputo, Creative Director of Catapult, began collaborating with Catapult magazine editors and freelance artists one year ago, and in that time has brought so many welcome changes to our publication—her invaluable contribution is evident in every single piece, a strong visual thread connecting all the stories we are privileged to publish. Under Nicole’s guidance, the carefully chosen images and original works of art accompanying our essays and short fiction have never looked better. Nicole has not only elevated our house style and established needed visual consistency across the site and social media feeds; she has also provided her own original art for the magazine, helped all editors become better at selecting editorial images and identifying which elements might best lend themselves to custom illustration, and established the Catapult Artist program to feature and celebrate the work of a diverse and ever-growing group of talented artists alongside our brilliant writers.

It has been a professional joy and privilege to work with and learn from Nicole, who recently took the time to talk with me about her artistic process, her work in book design, her commitment to fellow artists and designers, and her ongoing collaboration with Catapult magazine as we celebrate one year of the Catapult Artist program.

Have you always been an artist? When did you know you wanted to be one?

I naturally gravitated toward creating art from a very young age; I was always drawing. I also had a deep love for animals and nature, so there was a period when I wanted to work with animals and another period when I wanted to be an archaeologist, but creating art and illustrating were constants throughout my early life and adolescence. I was incredibly imaginative, always concocting stories and movies in my mind, digging up natural clay on the beach near my childhood home for sculpting, and I also loved books and book packaging. My parents were very supportive of my creativity and celebrated it openly in our home—my walls were covered in murals and collage growing up. I was interested in becoming a fine artist when I was in high school, but lacked confidence and frequently compared myself to other students. So I ended up at a liberal arts college in Colorado, taking archaeology courses . . . and just one painting class! It was a very poor fit, and I was unhappy and unfulfilled and ended up back in New York.

After taking some time off—and realizing that pushing through certain ideas I had about myself as an artist was necessary in order to live happily—I applied to the School of Visual Arts. I had developed a real interest in computers and was actually building them at that time, and also had an insatiable thirst to learn about graphics programs and typography. I was originally interested in the computer art program at SVA, and a counselor thought my fine art work showed a skill set and aesthetic that would make me an ideal candidate for their graphic design department. I was able to combine my love of reading, writing, creating stories, and making books with my other obsessions—illustration, typography, and working with my hands—as I studied with professors who were visual thinkers and had experience in cover and interior book design.

Can you talk about what you do for Catapult (and Counterpoint) at large? How has your role changed over time, if it has?

I was hired in August 2017 as Catapult’s art director and the creative director of Counterpoint to work primarily on the book imprints. At the time, Catapult book covers were mostly being designed by an outside studio, so I would focus on art-directing their design and ushering them through the approval process. I also worked on designing and bringing in new freelance designers to art-direct for Counterpoint’s covers to create a more modern, fresh, consistent overall look for their imprint. Because the company did not have an art or creative director prior to my arrival, I had the opportunity to build a department, and I’ve really enjoyed establishing systems that allow my team to work seamlessly with other departments and creating a house style for our books.

One of the best ways to show the new design aesthetic across imprints was through social media, creating new digital and photographic content for our Instagram feeds. I hired designer Elizabeth Yaffe to create on-trend book cover animations and pushed to increase Counterpoint’s Instagram follower count (which increased by 400 percent, reflecting the power of the visual!). I set up brand guidelines for Instagram posting for the company, which we started using for both the Catapult and Counterpoint accounts. And I started designing a large portion of the Catapult covers in-house as well.

With the success of our new overall visual brand, I began talking more with publisher Andy Hunter about how we could use Instagram as a tool to clearly illustrate the different facets of Catapult (Classes, Magazine, Books) and help people better understand what we do. As Catapult’s Instagram promotes and celebrates the work of all three departments, we would need to create greater consistency in the grid so that people who were coming for the Classes posts easily recognized the Classes posts, those coming for Books clearly knew they were looking at the books we publish, and those coming to see updates from Catapult magazine understood when new pieces went live.

How and why you did you begin working with us so intensely on magazine art direction?

Prior to joining Catapult, I’d been drawn to the whimsical and high-concept illustrations by former in-house artist Tallulah Pomeroy that filled the website. As a visual person who has a number of manuscripts to read at all times and consequently little spare time for other reading, the power of her work really drew me in and made me take notice of the incredibly moving, relatable, and important writing the magazine was publishing. When Tallulah ended her time as in-house illustrator, I noticed a clear difference in how the website looked and was particularly concerned that magazine pieces were not easily decipherable within our Instagram grid. Andy had asked me a few times if I would consider helping to provide art and image selection direction for the magazine, and I realized I had something more I could contribute to help our brilliant and powerful magazine writers get even greater exposure. And I also welcomed the chance to work more closely with our passionate and smart colleagues on the magazine team.

The Catapult Artist Program, now a year old, is really your brainchild. How did the idea come to you?

It was a combination of all of the above, plus some saltwater and darkness—the idea came to me while I was floating in a sensory deprivation salt tank in Long Island City! I need to share that if for no other reason than to remind myself, or anyone else who needs to be reminded, that rest and quiet can be very good for inspiration. I had been brainstorming about the style of imagery each facet of the company could use to announce itself in our social media feeds and better communicate to followers what Catapult is and what we do. The book posts were already headed in a new direction, and I knew we needed the consistency of an illustration style again to hold things together for magazine posts.

A combination of small budgets and a desire to support and promote the work of multiple artists at all levels inspired the idea of pushing out the work of one artist each month. Because Catapult is multifaceted, because our content spans so many diverse subjects, it seemed the similar Catapult Artist program would really be an extension of what the magazine was already doing. This would also place Catapult on the map as a company that celebrates and facilitates the creation of visual art, as well as incredible writing and design. Celebrating and promoting the work of one artist each month would give us consistency of style in our grid and on our website for that month, and would clearly signal the magazine pieces in the grid. Bringing on artists that are already well-established could bring new readers to Catapult, and could also help the emerging artists we hired to be noticed.

So I thought the Catapult Artist program would satisfy the needs of artists, of the company, and also encourage some things I personally find important when working with artists. I was so thrilled by your open-mindedness, Nicole, and for Andy Hunter’s. Working with Catapult Artists and working on the magazine have been such fulfilling professional experiences for me.

I won’t ask you to choose a favorite among the brilliant artists we’ve featured over the past year, but could you choose one or two whose work just really surprised and delighted you?

This is so difficult because every single artist created incredible work for us this year, and I could talk about all of their art and talent and enthusiasm for the program. But I am going to just go with the three artists that immediately come to mind at this moment, and those artists are Celia Jacobs, Sirin Thada, and this month’s artist, Hannah Lock, with her emotive mark-making.

How about individual illustrations—do any in particular stand out for you?

Again, so difficult! Ellen Weinstein’s illustration for Debbie Vance’s short story “How to Move Through the Dark,” Celia Jacobs’s illustration for Kim Henderson’s short story “Shadow Box,” Alexandra Bowman’s artwork for medina’s essay about being adopted and traveling to Honduras, Anja Silbar’s artwork for Mikaella Clements’s short fiction “Keeping Up With the Other Us,” Brian Rea’s piece for Jenny Tinghui Zhang’s first Wyoming essay all stand out to me, but there are so many more I could name.

You’ve also created some illustrations for the magazine—like the gorgeous hand-lettered map for Bryan Washington’s “Montrose, the Neighborhood That Gave Us Everything.” How does your magazine art and design vary from book art and design, and what are the relative challenges and rewards for you as an artist?

It was really such a thrill working on that illustration for Bryan’s piece. I am a huge fan of his work, and that essay in particular is incredibly moving. I read it five times, actually, while working on the art.

Although the timelines for the Catapult magazine illustrations are more spacious than at some other publications, the turnaround for editorial illustration is much quicker than it is for book covers, so the process is a bit more concentrated in its intensity, which I enjoy. If time allows, my process for designing a cover is very much to get completely absorbed in the book reading, and then go directly into the design while everything is fresh and my mind is still living in the world created by the text. Magazine pieces make this immersion and design work a bit easier because the text is shorter, as are the timelines.

The rest, for me, is very similar: I am always seeking a common thread throughout and doing image reference research—both for inspiration and to hold integrity to the subject, which in the case of Bryan’s Montrose essay was an accurate map of the area. In the end, I want to make sure that my stylistic vision is not only true to the content, but will also help position the piece so it will visually appeal to the audience we are hoping to reach and then stretch further, beyond that core audience.

What’s some of the best feedback you’ve gotten about the Catapult Artist Program? What are your goals for it, going forward?

I have received praise for the variety of artistic aesthetics and styles; that we give emerging illustrators a place to shine and to be featured alongside more established artists; the diversity of our artists; and the fact that visual art and artists are now being celebrated at Catapult.

Future goals may be to extend the program beyond one month, perhaps to three-month or six-month terms, so we get to work with each artist a bit longer. I would like the program to become even more widely known, which will help the magazine as well as all the artists who create for us. We held a Catapult and She Designs Books class with one of our Catapult Artists, Ellen Weinstein, and I would like to hold more classes to further our Visual Narrative arm of the Classes program and host more events that celebrate visual artists’ work and processes. It would be wonderful to provide an opportunity for more Catapult Artists to come in, talk about their work, and inspire future artists and designers.

Please tell us a little more about your own path to book cover design and art direction. When and how did you know this was the career for you, the best way to use your skills as an artist?

As mentioned before, I always loved books as physical objects as well as texts; I loved reading and image-making. I believe it was during my time at SVA that the passion for becoming a cover designer really overtook my other interests. Nearly my entire senior portfolio consisted of hand-bound illustrated books and covers—which I think worried my senior thesis advisor, because it could have pigeonholed me in terms of potential job opportunities! But I knew I wanted to be a cover designer.

I did take a job in magazines first, and after a few months they gave me some poster design projects, which I excelled at. I was very lucky to leave that job with even greater clarity and determination about the path I wanted to be on, which inspired me to accept a junior designer position at Perseus Books Group (an indie publisher that was later acquired by Hachette) for a much lower salary. I had a small whispering voice in my mind—thank goodness I listened to it—telling me that my passion combined with hard work and skill would yield a rich and satisfying career in cover design. Within two years, I was given my first imprint and a promotion to art director at Counterpoint Press (many years before it was acquired by Catapult), and eventually became VP, Creative Director of the group.

I love cover design because it combines my love of reading and creating concept-driven artwork and gives me room for creative freedom—within the parameters of the book itself, of course, and the way we are trying to position it for readers. My mother and grandmother are models of raw compassion and empathy in my life, and I believe these traits have also helped me to be a better designer when it comes to placing a “face” on a writer’s work—whether that be artwork for an essay, a short story, a novel, or a full-length work of nonfiction. It’s a great honor to be one of the first people to lay eyes on a writer’s work and help give it a visual identity, signaling to readers what is to come.

You mentioned She Designs Books, a community you co-founded to celebrate, promote, and encourage women in book design. Can you talk about why you created this organization, and what you’ve learned by doing so?

I had reached out to Anne Twomey—who was a creative director at Hachette—to ask for some career advice, and we continued to have lunch and coffee dates. We were at different places in our lives and careers, though with similar titles, going through many of the same challenges. Talking to each other helped us see that we were not alone as designers, as women—that some of the challenges we faced were systemic to the industry—and also helped us realize that we could support one another as we navigated toward opportunities and solutions in our careers.

It was when I was leaving Hachette to come to Catapult that we decided it was time to extend this opportunity to other women in design. Our original plan didn’t actually include an online community, but it quickly became clear this was something many people wanted. We began holding informal, in-person gatherings where entry-level designers or those not yet in the industry could meet with more established artists and creative directors to ask questions and network. That kind of matchmaking has been really personally rewarding to me, and is one way I can try to give back to those who have helped me along the way.

The mission and message of She Designs Books has always been to lift up other designers, because I have witnessed far too often designers in competition with each other in a way that holds us all back. We also wanted to see designers who were not yet being celebrated, or who were not comfortable marketing themselves, get exposure. In our first year we had six gatherings, and this past year we added two panel events—one with the Art Director’s Club, showcasing the work of designers Jaya Miceli, Alison Forner, and Adalis Martinez, and most recently we partnered with Belletrist to spotlight Here Until August author Josephine Rowe and the cover designer of her book, Jenny Carrow.

What advice do you have for aspiring artists and designers in the literary world?

One of the most impressive portfolios I have ever seen was from a designer who had not yet designed a cover for a published book, yet her portfolio was filled with beautifully designed covers that she printed and wrapped around books she had purchased at the store and read. This not only demonstrated her actual design skills, it showed a great deal of passion. So if you are not currently in the field but are looking to be a cover designer or illustrator, do not be afraid to show your skills in this way. Today, thanks to social media, it is much easier to have your work be seen. Don’t be invisible—there are people who want to see what you are working on. Also, most art and creative directors will make the time for informational interviews or portfolio reviews, so do not be afraid to reach out to those you admire. There really is nothing to lose, and you’ll be honoring your passion—which anyone worth their salt will be able to see and be inspired by.

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