“The production of Humble Masterpieces was one of the best—and smoothest—publishing experiences of my career. I rely on designers and trust their vision, but of course as a design curator I engage in a dynamic relationship with them. Richard’s idea for the book was incisive and made it a resounding success. The square format, the bright, compelling, and yet abstract cover, the slipcase that made it all a surprise . . . It was not a book, it was a design object.”
—Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, Architecture & Design, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
Richard Ljoenes is a Designer and Art Director primarily focused on print-based design—book covers and illustrated book interiors being the main bread and butter, but his background also includes advertising and corporate identity. Clients include HarperCollins, Ecco, Morrow, Simon & Schuster, W. W. Norton, Hachette, Penguin Random House, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Restless Books, Regan Arts, and Bloomsbury. His design and art direction has been awarded and recognized by The One Show, Type Directors Club, Communication Arts Design and Typography Annuals, The Cannes Lions Awards, Art Directors Club, AIGA’s 50 Books | 50 Covers, Graphis, Print Magazine, How Magazine International Design Awards, Time Magazine, The New York Book Show, and Graphic Design USA who named him a designer to watch in 2018. He has worked on over fifty New York Times Bestsellers.
E-MAIL: RICHARD.LJOENES@GMAIL.COM
INSTAGRAM: @richardljoenes
Design Portfolio: All designs are done solely by Ljoenes unless collaborators are listed. All works shown are the final printed piece unless otherwise noted.
Art Direction Portfolio: All designs by the designers credited (click on the index images to see full credits and project details). Ljoenes’s role limited to Art Direction and project oversight. If clicking on an index image doesn't take you to the project page, scroll to the top and you'll find it (there's a technical glitch in some versions of certain browsers).
CURRICULUM VITAE
BIO
Ljoenes started his career as a traditional advertising sketch-artist with D’Arcy (formerly DMB&B/Clarion) in his native Oslo, Norway. Eventually markers were replaced with a Mac and over the next few years he developed into a driven designer working on many of Norway’s biggest brands. Although thriving at the firm his status as the sole soccer-hating male on the European continent eventually forced his emigration stateside. After attending San Francisco’s Academy of Art he moved to New York, and following a brief period at Sullivan & Co Design, got his first start in publishing with HarperCollins Publishers. During his eleven years there he held numerous roles at several imprints, including Senior Art Director at Regan Books (w/stints in NYC and LA offices), V.P. Senior Art Director at both the Collins imprint, and more recent, the Harper Division. In June 2014 he left HarperCollins for the opportunity of starting on the ground floor of Regan Arts (teaming up once more with his former boss), a newly established Phaidon Global Company, where he served as Creative Director and oversaw all cover and interior design for a range of fiction, non-fiction, and illustrated books. Spring 2017 Ljoenes started his own studio. He now operates out of Boulder, Colorado, where he lives with a four-year-old whom he continues to amaze daily, and his wife, who is less impressed by the minute.
EXPERIENCE
04/01/2017 – Present: Richard Ljoenes Design LLC: Owner / Principal Designer
06/01/2014 – 03/31/2017: Regan Arts, New York: Creative Director (A Phaidon Global Company)
HarperCollins Publishers:
02/01/2009 – 03/01/2014: Harper Division, New York: Vice President Sr. Art Director
07/01/2007 – 01/01/2009: Collins Division, New York: Vice President Sr. Art Director
06/01/2003 – 06/01/2007: Regan Books Division: New York & Los Angeles, Sr. Art Director
03/01/2003 – 05/31/2003: Sullivan & Company, New York (www.sullivannyc.com): Designer
06/01/1998 – 12/31/1999: D’Arcy Advertising (former DMB&B), Oslo, Norway: Jr. Art Director
06/01/1996 – 05/31/1998: Clarion IMP Advertising, Oslo, Norway (merged with DMB&B in 98): Art Director Assistant / Visualizer
EDUCATION
01/01/2000 – 12/31/2002: Academy of Art College, San Francisco: Bachelor of Fine Arts / Graphic Design
08/01/1995 – 05/31/1996: Mercantile Institute, Oslo, Norway: Graphic Design
08/01/1994 – 07/01/1995: Norwegian Army (Mandatory service)
All site photography (the photos of the books, not the ones on the books) and gif animations by Richard Ljoenes.