Euan Monaghan

A Bit About Me

I am a British book designer based in the Netherlands. Since 2011, I have worked with a diverse group of publishers—including Melville House, World Editions, Zuleika, Edinburgh University Press, Hallmark Publishing, and the literacy charity First Story—as well as many talented independent authors.

I design both covers and the internals of books.

The covers I design are driven by clear typography and strong imagery. In the modern publishing world, every book needs to work equally well as a thumbnail on Amazon as on the shelves of your favourite indie bookstore. Research is one of my favourite parts of the whole process, so if your cover needs to fit the look of a particular genre, you can be sure it will do so, while at the same time standing out in all the right ways.

When designing inside pages, my focus is on clarity and readability. These qualities turn on the smallest of details, from the font used for page numbers to the letter spacing of small caps. Many of these details are received subconsciously by your readers—the book will simply feel good to read.

Each book I design employs styles throughout. This, together with a clear, efficient workflow, means all books designed for print can be smoothly converted into beautiful, flexible ebooks.

I am a member of the Independent Publishers Guild and AIGA, the professional association for design. In addition to my day-to-day book design work, I run Structo, a Stack Award-nominated literary magazine and its book-publishing arm, Structo Press.

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I decided to help Activist Children's Books in a pro-bono fashion. My share of the revenue generated by the books will be reinvested to the coop.