We’re thrilled to be publishing Natalie Chanin’s third book, Alabama Studio Sewing + Design. One of the hardest parts of the process was choosing a cover from all the gorgeous images we had! We knew we wanted the cover to look “of a piece” with Natalie’s previous books—Alabama Stitch Book and Alabama Studio Style--but not too similar. And we wanted to convey what the book is: a collection of basic clothing patterns that have endless variety when paired with hand-embellishment techniques.

We’ve used a photo grid design for Natalie’s other books, so we started there. This design made it far into the selection process, with its gorgeous fashion photo of a peachy dress and several close-ups of bead and applique embellishments.

The designer tried a couple more gridded designs that mixed model shots with embellishment details.

But in the end, it was something completely different that won out: a single image of two models in an embellished bucket hat design. It felt both striking and fresh, and it set this new book apart from the others in an elegant way.

What do you think? Which would you have chosen?