Vivian Lopez Rowe
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Where are you from?: Los Angeles, CA
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic / Latinx
Languages: English and Spanish
Where do you currently work at?: Ecco
Current Position / Role: Book Cover Designer
One favorite book you've designed and why?: I don't really do favorites in general and I'm constantly focused on making my next cover my best cover. But if I had to choose I would say A Living Remedy by Nicole Chung. To me, this cover really feels how the book feels, which is what I’m always striving for. This was also a full circle moment for me since I worked with Nicole a few years ago when I was an intern. The writing is beautiful and I felt so privileged to be working on such an important book. Another favorite is Tomb Sweeping by Alexandra Chang, which I designed and illustrated. It’s a really interesting collection of short stories that was fun to pull images from and I’m really happy with how it turned out. Plus I got to put my cats on the cover!
What do you like about being a book designer in publishing? : I love that I get to work with books and people that love books. The job sounds exciting and it is but it is also hard work. Design is hard work. I love that I constantly get to be creative and work on different projects. The best part is when everyone involved including the author loves the cover.
Tell us a surprising fact about you?: I have many interests and one of them is taking classes just for fun. This is how I found out I'm a terrible tap dancer.
What's one goal you have for yourself in this industry?: I would like to keep improving as a designer and illustrator, but I think it’s a triumph just to keep existing in publishing as a woman of color. There are a lot of factors that keep/push BIPOC out of publishing. But I’m determined to thrive here and be a small part of representing the Latinx/e community in the industry.
How do you overcome a creative block?: I find that even when I’m doing or watching something completely unrelated to my work I tend to find inspiration. My subconscious just sort of takes care of me that way. I’ll step away, take a walk or watch TV or a movie. Sometimes I look at a ton of source material, even if it’s not directly related to what I’m doing and try a bunch of different things and then eventually some moment happens that just works.