Tales Post – Inside Stripes – Ali Ardington
As part of my prize for winning the UKYABA for Champion Newcomer in March 2015 I was offered exclusivity on all Stripes titles and content as well as a wonderful book voucher and of course a beautiful award!
I thought to coincide with this it would be nice to gain an insight into the team at Stripes and get to know them and their department a little better.
To do this I tasked the lovely people at Stripes with a gruelling questionnaire…..okay maybe it wasn’t gruelling and kind of fun …. *evil laugh*
And Inside Stripes was born….
Over the course of the month Inside Stripes will aim to give people a look into the Stripes world, the team, their departments and more.
Here’s a little sneak peak at the Stripes Publishing office!
Who are you?
Ali Ardington
Which department do you work in?
Design Team
What is the departments function at Stripes?
To design and create books that are visually exciting, breaking rules and setting trends in a tough competitive market
What is your job title?
Art Director
Tell us a little about what you do or things you work on in your department.
In brief, I manage the design team and help direct the list in a visual sense. I am also responsible for the files that go out to repro, it’s imperative everything is set up correctly to ensure the books print correctly. The design team also produces promotional material to help market the books, an incredibly important part of the job. Scheduling is a team effort, and we work together to ensure success.
What are you currently working on whilst you are answering this questionnaire…if you are allowed to share?
I designed our new RED EYE horror series that will chill you to the bone! Really love it! It feeds the darker side quite nicely
What is the favourite part of your job?
This is quite difficult, because I enjoy many aspects of my job. Being creative and designing is probably the number one pull, but I also love mentoring and managing my designers. They are my favourite people! Creativity is in my bones, and working with agents and illustrators is just the icing on the cake!
Now it’s time for…..Quick-Fire Questions!
Describe yourself in 3 words
Mischievious
Supportive
Creative
Favourite book?
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs.
The first of a trilogy.
What’s your favourite place on earth?
Does it have to be on earth? I would have to say Lancre where the three witches live in Discworld. I love Nanny Ogg’s humour – it just makes me happy.
What’s your favourite food?
Veggie roast dinner
Num num!
Favourite word?
Crivens!
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
Apart from air, my family, cats and friends.
If you could time warp yourself to any point in history when would it be, who would you hang out with?
Leonardo Da Vinci, and find out why the Mona Lisa was smiling!
If you had a super power what would it be?
Telepathy, like Professor X. I’d stop all animal cruelty.
What’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?
Ooh, I couldn’t possibly tell you the most embarrassing!
:O)
Want to know more about the Stripes Publishing Team….find more blog posts by clicking on the links below…
Inside Stripes – Jessie Sullivan
Inside Stripes – Caroline Hill-Trevor
Inside Stripes – Hayley Castle
So there you have it! That’s the fantastic Ali Ardington!
A huge thank you to Ali and all of Stripes Publishing who played along with my questionnaire idea! You are all awesome!
You can follow Stripes Publishing using @Stripesbooks
Or check out their awesome website – www.stripespublishing.co.uk
Check back soon for more Inside Stripes!
What an interesting post. Love hear about about different aspects of publishing. x
I have lots of different ones that have gone up – links at the bottom of the Q&A – really enjoying getting a little glimpse behind the scenes x