Penn State Industries / Selected catalog covers
Cover stories.
Different directions. Hands-on decisions.
Concept · Art direction · Cover design
Product selection, styling, and collaboration with photographers and retouchers.
01 / Material to finished piece
Beauty, Earned.
The wood blank and finished pen show the transformation in one image. I selected the pen and woods, then developed the arrangement, directed the shoot, and built the final cover.
My role / Concept, product and material selection, styling, shoot direction, layout, and retouching direction.
A closer look02 / Making the process visible
The work
behind it.
I arranged the shavings by hand, using tweezers to place individual pieces around the pen. Their shape and placement bring the work of making into the finished image.
The yellow background gave the composition more energy than the white version. This and the quieter “Beauty, Earned” cover grew from the same interest in showing transformation.
My role / Concept, styling, shoot direction, and cover layout.
03 / A warm fall palette
Autumn turns.
For the November release, I brought together four pens in a coordinated fall palette. I sourced and ordered the leather background and had the pens made specifically for the shoot.
The preparation mattered: the pen colors, finishes, and leather needed to work together. I carried that direction through the shoot planning, retouching notes, and final layout.
My role / Concept, product and material selection, shoot planning, layout, and retouching direction.
04 / From Photoshop study to set
Freshly turned.
I developed the concept in Photoshop before the shoot, then selected the pens and styled the scene with the photographer. When the brief called for more pens, I chose colors that would work within the arrangement.
My role / Concept, product selection, styling, shoot direction, and final layout.
05 / Directing a remote production
Hot off
the lathe.
Early AI-assisted concept studies led to a direction built around red pens and glowing coals. I selected the pens and sent them to a photographer in Germany, who handled the photography and set styling.
I created the title treatment and final InDesign layout, then provided retouching notes to reduce sparks over the pens, address clip glare, and vary repeated flame details.
My role / Concept direction, product selection, title treatment, layout, and retouching direction.
Collaboration
Photography produced with external studios. My contribution is described with each cover; photography and set styling for “Hot Off the Lathe” were handled by the collaborating photographer.
From cover to catalog
The interior pages carry the product story into specifications, options, and ordering information.
See the catalog work