All about Jo

After graduating with a love of photography and a degree in Graphic Design from Bristol, Jo started her publishing career in a food photographic studio in London working on her auntie’s cookery books. Here she developed a passion for cooking, and learning book design the traditional way before desktop publishing became the norm.

Guinness Publishing was Jo’s next career step, where she worked on the Guinness Book of World Records amongst other titles. As well as typesetting and page layout, she carried out picture research for music titles the original way – looking through hanging sheets of slides in drawers in filing cabinets.

In 1999, Jo joined children’s book publisher Miles Kelly as a senior designer and went on to become the Creative Director, before becoming a freelance designer in 2024. During this period, she directed and designed hundreds of children’s books across many subjects and age groups. As technology and printing effects advanced, her children’s book cover designs became more creative, using embossing, foils and Pantone colours. Working with many talented people over the years she made lifelong friends, including the members of Gingerbread Moon Creative.

Jo also worked for Photosound Communications Ltd. Here she created graphics for stands and designed marketing materials and brochures for pitches, exhibitions and promotions for the pharmaceutical industry.

For Jo, working in publishing represents a love of knowledge through reading and creating books. She particularly enjoys choosing appropriate fonts, colours and artists for each project. Her superpowers are her microscopic attention to detail and knowing how to improve any layout or cover (if it needs it).

As a creative and efficient freelance designer, Jo has worked on event invitations, brochures, websites and many more books – most recently a children’s coding series for the publisher, In Easy Steps. She develops designs from concept through to professional print-ready finished artwork. From eye-catching exhibition stands to intricate covers and simple page layouts for toddlers, Jo has it covered (pardon the pun).