We’re offering readers a behind the scenes glimpse into the bookmaking process—the people behind the books and the products we create! Through our “Behind the Book” blog series, discover who plays a role in creating a book, what daily life looks like at Norton, and what being part of an independent and employee-owned company means. 

Rubina Yeh joined Norton as an associate art director, initially working on college and trade books. Over the years, as the college list grew, she was promoted to design director, overseeing college print and ebook designs. She will be celebrating her 25th anniversary at Norton this year.

What is your current role, and what part do you play in the book publishing process?  

As design director, I manage and direct a team of designers who create the college book interiors for both print books and ebooks. It’s a collaborative development process with the book editors, authors, project editors, ebook producers, and production managers. My team also works on book covers with the executive creative director, Debra Morton Hoyt, so that the book becomes a cohesive package with a strong identity.  

Could you touch on why the design of a book matters, especially for college books?  

We make sure the books and ebooks are accessible, readable, and interesting. We distill the marketing message for the book into a design direction, which sometimes can be the hardest part of the design. We want to highlight features that are important to the instructors reviewing and adopting our books and try to make those items stand out based on the hierarchy of information. 

For your current role, what does an average day look like? 

I meet with my team members to review designs to ensure they reflect the content and the quality W. W. Norton is known for. I also art-direct freelancers on my own projects. I meet with editors to strategize upcoming book designs, and I attend meetings to gain insight into the marketing strategy for upcoming books. 

What is the design process like?  

The creative process is the same whether it’s writing or creating music or designing—you try to come up with an idea or direction. For design, I use tools like fonts, colors, and design elements to convey the marketing direction. I strive to create a design that is strong and cohesive but within the book’s parameters, such as considering accessibility in ebooks or length in print books. The design goes through an approval process and, with the resulting comments and suggestions, I either revise or start over. Sometimes it can take six passes over six months to get an approved design the whole book team loves. When you get the design right, it’s enjoyable and rewarding work. 

How has your current role changed while you’ve worked at Norton?  

When I was first hired, I designed college and trade interiors and covers. As the college list grew, I was asked to specialize and manage the college book interiors. My role changed again when ebooks started. I knew that my team could take on this big change because we understood the pedagogy of these complex books deeply. We had to learn about accessibility and new terminology as well as understand HTML/CSS/Bootstrap.  

What have been some of your favorite projects? 

I’m proud of so many of our college books—it’s hard to pick one project because it’s like choosing your favorite child. In the past, we had won many New York Book Show awards for titles like Astronomy: At Play in the Cosmos, World Politics, You May Ask Yourself, Give Me Liberty, Everyone’s an Author, Looking at Movies, and others. I say we because these designs are collaborative. Looking back to my early years at Norton, Pink Think and Queer Street are still successful designs. Unfortunately, there are no awards for college ebooks as of yet.   

Are there any projects or initiatives you introduced to your department or Norton? 

I have been improving the design process to be more efficient over the years, and that is an ongoing initiative. Specifically, I created the design transmittal years ago. This document helps the editor consider and communicate the needs of the book in terms of design. It’s a living document that’s constantly evolving as our process evolves. Recently, I spearheaded and designed the Norton Foundation Design Library (FDL) for our ebooks with Anne DeMarinis, a freelance designer who codes. This was a massive project that has taken over two years. It’s essentially a comprehensive library of every element that could possibly be in our books from art and music to the sciences. My team will customize a design based on the FDL. Most importantly, this helps make our ebooks easier and simpler to produce. 

What skills do you need to succeed in your job? Did any previous work or life experience help you in your role? 

I have an arts degree from the University of Michigan. I took a lot of liberal arts courses before I rebelled and majored in design. The graphic design and typography courses, as well as liberal arts courses such as art history, were a good foundation for book design. It helps to have used college books as a student to understand how to handle complex page designs. I often hire designers who have some liberal arts background and love books. 

What does Norton being independent and employee-owned mean to you and your work? 

I experienced mergers and layoffs in previous jobs but not at Norton. The company is very stable, something I attribute to the fact that it is employee-owned and independent. Norton makes smart and careful decisions.

What advice would you give someone just starting out in publishing? 

Bookmaking is a skill that you hone over time. Getting a feel for type takes time and an experienced eye. It’s also important to stay current because design trends and technology are forever changing. I’ve had to learn and adapt to different computer skills over the years, from MacPaint, Pagemaker, and Quark Xpress to InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma, and HTML/CSS. 

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