Interview with a Book Designer

My informational interview was with Joe Macri, a graphic designer at Cavendish Square Publishing. I asked him how he started his career path and he told me that he started freelance graphic design before he graduated. He started in T-Shirt design, and eventually started working editorial design for a newspaper in New York.  He moved to packaging design and textile design, and now lives in Buffalo doing children’s book design. I asked him how he got those jobs. He admitted that he got his current job just by looking in the classifieds, but the others came about from networking and knowing people.  He also offered interview tips.  At one point, he was responsible for hiring new people and told me not to be socially awkward. It isn’t an attractive quality in a potential employee. Co-workers don’t want to be around someone who makes them uncomfortable. He also gave me some portfolio advice, telling me that employers will always look at the details that work should always look clean, balanced and professional. As the interview concluded, he recommended a site, behance.net, calling it  “Facebook for graphic designers,” telling me that he once received a job offer because of it.