Domestika Talks: Rodrigo Corral

Watch this talk by Rodrigo Corral, one of the greatest book cover designers of recent decades

What makes a great book cover designer? Is it best to bring your own style to the design or should you focus entirely on communicating the concept of the book you're working on, removing yourself from the equation? Perhaps the trick is to strike a balance between the two. Rodrigo Corral (@rodrigocorral_) answers these questions and more.

Corral–creative director of the publishing house Farrar, Straus and Giroux and head of his own studio–took the stage at the most recent edition of Copa Domestika Colombia to talk about the core ideas behind his work. Watch his talk in the following video:

Corral begins by paying tribute to his teachers–the design masters who introduced him to the discipline. Figures such as Bob Gill, Tony Palladino, and Chip Kidd taught him that he would have to work hard, be passionate about his ideas, and fight for them.

The designer tells the story of how he ended up in prison right at the beginning of his career, following a disagreement with the studio he was working for at the time. The experience taught him that he still had a lot to learn if he wanted to follow in the footsteps of the teachers he idolized, which he would, in his own time.

Rodrigo Corral’s studio has created some of the most iconic book covers in the world of publishing, working with artists such as Jay-Z, Deepak, and Sanjiv Chopra, Junot Díaz, and Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.

Experimenting with materials and contrasting colors and shapes has seen them commissioned for branding projects and advertising projects in film as well, challenging them to produce work that can stand out from the daily noise.

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