Jim Tierney

I received a letter from a former student that recently graduated from Pratt Institute. This is pretty rare as I can barely get my current students to contact me. Dylan was a welcome addition to my paper engineering course and brought an enthusiasm to the class that matched his ambitious designs. It looks like his zeal continues to this day when he shared a link to an amazing book cover designer.


Jim Tierney is currently an illustration student at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. For his senior thesis he has reimagined the book design of four famous Jules Verne tales. Each of the titles utilizes a different material or technique that compliments the theme of the book. Some have volvelles or pull tabs, while others employ clever diecut or transparent overlays. Check out his blog for some great close-ups of the covers, bookwraps and endpapers. There is even a great video that I first saw at Faceout Books that shows these books in action.

No need to wish Jim luck as I am positive he will find many commissions for his beautiful book designs now that he is graduating. I just hope Dylan and the rest of my students keep me posted when a publisher picks these up and I can get my own copy to display on my shelves.

-Kyle