Hi Carin, could you start by telling us a bit about yourself?

I’m a hunter and gatherer and a maker of things. I grew up in upstate New York. I have lived in a variety of places: New York, London, San Francisco, and for short periods of time in Kyoto, Japan.

I studied graphic design in college, and minored in illustration. I have worked as a designer for ages. My first design job was at Pentagram in London, and I moved from designing things like annual reports, corporate identities, and brochures to book jacket design, which is what I most love because it allows me to combine words and pictures in a very pure, distilled way. That is also what delights me about making picture books. I have designed covers for all sorts of books and for all the major publishers.

Writing and illustrating children’s book is something that I started doing much more recently, once I had my daughter.

When did you first discover your talent? How did you nurture it?

I’ve always been happiest making things. From early on, I was especially drawn to the combination of words and pictures, and telling visual stories.

You work in a traditional cut and paste collage style - has this always been your medium of choice?

A lot of the artwork I made as a kid incorporated collaged elements. But there definitely wasn’t a straight path to collage, or even to illustration. I studied graphic design and worked as a designer for years and years. When I started trying to figure out how to approach the illustrations for Not so True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes, I originally thought that I would make paintings. But we were away from home, in Northern California, and I had very few art supplies with me. I did have a huge stack of old magazines and a friend gave me a treasure trove of old ephemera that she had found in an old barn. There was no turning back.

Have you ever been tempted to try creating your collages digitally?

In truth, years of doing design on the computer left me with a strong yearning to work by hand and in many ways the way I do my collages was born from that desire. I do, however, use the computer a tiny bit in my illustrations. For example in Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, I scanned engravings from my collection of old dictionaries and Sears catalogues, manipulated the color in Photoshop, printed them back out, and then incorporated these printed pictures as elements within the collage.

What was the first picture book you had published and how did it come into fruition?

Not so True Stories and Unreasonable Rhymes, 2004, Chronicle Books, was my first picture book. It was a collection of quirky poems that I wrote when my daughter was very young. I wrote it almost accidentally to amuse myself while I waited [endlessly!] for her to fall asleep. I made some illustrations to go with the poems, put together some sample spreads and didn’t really know what to do next. I wasn’t trying to get it published as much as I was trying to learn about the process, but I was very fortunate. A friend of a friend was an agent and offered to represent the book. She sold it to Chronicle Books. It was a very streamlined and atypical process. Extremely lucky.

Was it scary working on your first real book? What was the biggest lesson you learned on the book that you’ve carried with you onto all your other books to date?

Even though I had a very clear vision for the book, I also felt like I was completely winging it. The whole process was absolutely new to me, especially the writing. This was also exhilarating. I learned so much working with the editor, Victoria Rock, who had the gentlest touch and yet found a way to really push me with the writing. I suppose the best and also the hardest lesson that I learned was that making children’s books is a collaborative process.

You write and illustrate a lot of your books - does the writing come more or less easily than the illustrations?

It’s funny. My education is all in the visual arts, and although I’ve often written for myself, I still don’t really feel qualified to call myself a writer. That said, when I make my books, the stories have always come first.

You also work with other authors on their picture books too - how is it working with someone else’s words? Does it make the process easier or harder, more or less enjoyable?

I find that illustrating someone else’s manuscript has different and interesting challenges. It’s important for me to find a sense of ownership of the project. Illustrating a manuscript that I didn’t write is a less organic process than when working with my own words. When illustrating my own writing there is a lot of play back and forth between the pictures and text, and I am free to edit the words when the pictures can do the work in their stead.

What has been your favourite project to date?

I’m not sure that I have a favorite…if so, it’s probably the one I have yet to do.

Please could you describe your illustration process from initial ideas to the finished piece?

I start by making scribble-y little drawings. Those eventually develop into tight, half-size dummies with line drawings in them. The dummies don’t have the feel of the final art, but they accurately show the layout, the characters and the type on each page. I blow these up to full size, and make very tight line drawings on vellum. I then start to cut each piece out. I create each bit separately, almost like little paper toys. For example, with Ok Go! I created each character and glued them into the car, before gluing the car in place on the background. I use the vellums like a map and place each element into its exact position before gluing it down. I often will create several different versions of a piece before selecting the one I like best.

You obviously have a flair for typography too as the words always seem to fit so seamlessly into your illustrations. How early in the process do you consider the typeface, size, placement? Do you view the type as just another collage element?

I love that thought…that the type is just another collage element! That’s a great way to describe it. The typography is an extremely crucial part of the book for me. It can be used to enhance and support the story. I think about it very early on, although of course, it evolves along with the rest of the book.

One of my favourite illustrations of yours is the sun spread from ‘The Little Yellow Leaf’. How long did it take to create this beautiful image?

Oh! A lot longer than I initially thought it would take! I forgot that the sun was asymmetrical, so I had started on the outside edge and was working my way to the center. I was about half way done when I realized it wasn’t going to work. I had to begin again! Not the happiest moment…

A lot of your illustrations are so intricate and look very fiddly to create, what size do you generally work at?

The final illustrations are created at 110% of the size of art in the book.

‘Forever Friends’, which you describe as a companion book to ‘The Little Yellow Leaf’, is about to be released - was it always the plan to have a second book or did it happen organically?

Organically. The bunny and bird make an appearance on the front and back covers of The Little Yellow Leaf. The bunny was there because we have a pet bunny, Pearly, but the bird was there simply because I like birds. Having them sitting there sparked the beginning thoughts for Forever Friends. The story also grew out of our impending trip to Japan, and discussions with my daughter about leaving her friends behind, and how close friendships can endure despite distance. It’s a message that felt very personal and relevant to our lives, but as I was working on the story, I realized how pertinent it was for very young children who face small separations all the time [such as when we leave them with sitters or at school]. We all need to be reassured that separations are temporary and love enduring.

What are you currently working on?

I have a new book that I’m just about to start final illustrations on. It’s about a perfect winter day.

You have a lovely little animated version of your work on the intro to your website and I can image your book ‘Ok, Go!’ working really well as a short animation - is animation an area that you’re interested in?

Absolutely! I would love to collaborate on some animation projects!!! Spread the word!

You seem very tech savvy and use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter (@carinberger) - what do you enjoy most about this aspect? Has it helped you reach a wider audience - led to any jobs?

I love how social media gives one the sense of connection to a like-minded community.

This was especially wonderful when I was in Japan for four months, but I also find it useful because I work alone most days. I enjoy the flow of ideas and shared information. It’s a rich resource.

You spent quite a bit of time in Kyoto, Japan last year - how was that? Have you noticed any Japanese influences filtering into your work since you got back?

Kyoto was fabulous. I luxuriated in the cultural differences and had a great time taking tons of photos [you can see them on my blog]. I am sure that there are all sorts of subtle influences that will show up, but funnily, it’s in Forever Friends, which was made in anticipation of the trip, that there are some more obvious references to Japanese art.

To see more of Carin’s beautiful work, check out the following links:

Carin’s website

Carin’s blog

Carin’s FaceBook page

Carin’s Twitter feed