Tobias Outerwear for Books (Tobias Design, Inc.), a specialty design firm catering to the book publishing industry, announced today its tenth anniversary in business.
The company is owned by Christopher Tobias, a graphic designer who in a decade has designed his way onto best-selling book covers. With a degree in graphic design and some after-college experience in advertising, Tobias ventured out on his own in 1996. His business began in the basement of his suburban Grand Rapids, MI home, and in 2004 moved to Davisburg, (just north of Detroit), where he now rents a comfortable studio space. All things have improved for Tobias who remembers those early years in the basement. Man, it was cold. I used to wear gloves with the fingers cut out and sit with my feet ON a space heater. The walls were cinder block and painted a light teal, circa 1960. That was the worst. I would see one of my covers on Fox News or in a magazine or something and think if they only knew where that was created.
Several books with Tobias covers have made it onto the New York Times best-sellers list. Among these are David Limbaughs Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging Political War Against Christians and National Review Editor Rich Lowrys Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years.
Business has grown from 30-40 designs in his first year; to what Tobias estimates will be about 125 covers in 2006. Things may be bigger and better than ten years ago, but Tobias intends to keep running his business on a small scale. There are a lot of advantages of being a small outfit, Tobias says. Faster turnaround for clients (usually), accessibility, flexibility, and most importantly, being able to spend my time designing instead of managing a staff.
So while Tobias Outerwear for Books will remain a one-man show, Tobiass goal for the next ten years is to continue expanding his growing clientele list. He has built an impressive roster of publishers who regularly solicit his work including Thomas Nelson, Baker Books, Integrity Publishers, Broadman & Holman, Zondervan, P&R Publishing, Waterbrook Press, and Regnery.
My philosophy is to make my contacts look good. If I can help them impress the people they answer to, then they are going to come back to me. Creativity and design play a major part, of course. But so do meeting (or beating) deadlines, returning phone calls and e-mail. If I can provide outstanding design while still meeting the objectives for the project then the cover will be a winnerfor the publisher, the author, and for me.
For more information and to judge the book covers of Tobias Outerwear for Books, please visit http://www.tobiasdesign.com.
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