Brian LaRossa
@brianlarossa.com
Executive Art Director at Scholastic (Picture Books). Lecturer at Pratt & CCNY (Typography & Criticism). Writer of Fiction (Agent:
@liznealon.bsky.social). Speaker (SCBWI et al.). 523rd Bluesky account. Born ATL. Live NYC. He/Him. www.brianlarossa.com. 💙❤️
@liznealon.bsky.social). Speaker (SCBWI et al.). 523rd Bluesky account. Born ATL. Live NYC. He/Him. www.brianlarossa.com. 💙❤️
Hey illustrators/agents!
I’m a #kidlit art director starting work on a new picture book—we’re looking for: expressive, commercial, human characters; fantasy; magic; AND Mahjong! The tiles! The drama!
Please respond w/ samples + folio link.
Please no emails/DMs.
💙❤️ #artcommissions
I’m a #kidlit art director starting work on a new picture book—we’re looking for: expressive, commercial, human characters; fantasy; magic; AND Mahjong! The tiles! The drama!
Please respond w/ samples + folio link.
Please no emails/DMs.
💙❤️ #artcommissions
January 7, 2026 at 8:12 PM
Hey illustrators/agents!
I’m a #kidlit art director starting work on a new picture book—we’re looking for: expressive, commercial, human characters; fantasy; magic; AND Mahjong! The tiles! The drama!
Please respond w/ samples + folio link.
Please no emails/DMs.
💙❤️ #artcommissions
I’m a #kidlit art director starting work on a new picture book—we’re looking for: expressive, commercial, human characters; fantasy; magic; AND Mahjong! The tiles! The drama!
Please respond w/ samples + folio link.
Please no emails/DMs.
💙❤️ #artcommissions
Reposted by Brian LaRossa
The next milestone we hope to hit is $15,000 for the Black Zine Fair: gogetfunding.com/black-zine-f...
Black Zine Fair Returns in 2026 — Help Us Bring It to Life
The Black Zine Fair was founded by Mariame Kaba and Neta Bomani in 2023 to address a clear gap: Black publishers and artists have long shaped independent publishing, yet we were still underrepresented...
gogetfunding.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:01 PM
The next milestone we hope to hit is $15,000 for the Black Zine Fair: gogetfunding.com/black-zine-f...
Reposted by Brian LaRossa
read this thread, the entire thread, because my god we need people in this industry to learn what comics are and how they are made. every one of these posts rang true and hit home w my own experiences
I wish I'd thought sooner to explain to tradpub editors that illustrating a graphic novel is not like writing a prose novel or illustrating a picture book, a 250-page GN is actually like illustrating eight picture books.
January 6, 2026 at 3:38 PM
read this thread, the entire thread, because my god we need people in this industry to learn what comics are and how they are made. every one of these posts rang true and hit home w my own experiences
today is
my birthday
please be
nice to me
💙❤️
my birthday
please be
nice to me
💙❤️
January 6, 2026 at 12:10 PM
today is
my birthday
please be
nice to me
💙❤️
my birthday
please be
nice to me
💙❤️
Let’s all try to make art this year that is honest enough to make us cry, okay?
January 1, 2026 at 11:57 PM
Let’s all try to make art this year that is honest enough to make us cry, okay?
My gut says 2026 will be the year of repairing a great many things.
December 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
My gut says 2026 will be the year of repairing a great many things.
Reposted by Brian LaRossa
BTW, we're still here reporting news. The Authors Guild has expressed concerns to Amazon about "Ask this Book." Reps for textbook authors tell the court Sage Publishing is trying to get authors to accept less than they deserve in Anthropic settlement.... 1/2
December 24, 2025 at 4:36 PM
BTW, we're still here reporting news. The Authors Guild has expressed concerns to Amazon about "Ask this Book." Reps for textbook authors tell the court Sage Publishing is trying to get authors to accept less than they deserve in Anthropic settlement.... 1/2
We are the books.
Sometimes I hear people talk about book design as if it’s an optional service, and not even in context of AI—as if there would still be books without book designers lol.
December 23, 2025 at 5:40 PM
We are the books.
Sometimes I hear people talk about book design as if it’s an optional service, and not even in context of AI—as if there would still be books without book designers lol.
December 23, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Sometimes I hear people talk about book design as if it’s an optional service, and not even in context of AI—as if there would still be books without book designers lol.
I don’t think companies should get a trophy for *not* using AI.
You don’t get a reward for valuing creative people in the way that you already should be.
The reward for hiring creative people is the thing that they created for you.
You don’t get a reward for valuing creative people in the way that you already should be.
The reward for hiring creative people is the thing that they created for you.
December 23, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I don’t think companies should get a trophy for *not* using AI.
You don’t get a reward for valuing creative people in the way that you already should be.
The reward for hiring creative people is the thing that they created for you.
You don’t get a reward for valuing creative people in the way that you already should be.
The reward for hiring creative people is the thing that they created for you.
Truly, only someone who has never read a book could describe them as small.
December 22, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Truly, only someone who has never read a book could describe them as small.
this
I've said it before but there is no such thing as "AI". It's a deliberate misnomer that functions as propaganda for "the brain is just a computer" arm of tech. And there's a whole fucked up ouroboros of dehumanization/misogyny/racism involved in that sphere.
December 21, 2025 at 7:53 PM
this
Filling out HR paperwork for Pratt right now.✨
If I could hand pick any two schools in the world to teach at I would pick The City College of New York and Pratt. Feeling very lucky to be teaching at both next semester.✨
If I could hand pick any two schools in the world to teach at I would pick The City College of New York and Pratt. Feeling very lucky to be teaching at both next semester.✨
December 20, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Filling out HR paperwork for Pratt right now.✨
If I could hand pick any two schools in the world to teach at I would pick The City College of New York and Pratt. Feeling very lucky to be teaching at both next semester.✨
If I could hand pick any two schools in the world to teach at I would pick The City College of New York and Pratt. Feeling very lucky to be teaching at both next semester.✨
I never stopped making my Friday night pizza, I just grew weary of sharing it every time. Tonight it came out pretty good!✨
My recipe: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
💙❤️
My recipe: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
💙❤️
December 20, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I never stopped making my Friday night pizza, I just grew weary of sharing it every time. Tonight it came out pretty good!✨
My recipe: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
💙❤️
My recipe: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
💙❤️
It really is just TOTALLY INSANE how hard it is to make a truly excellent book. Nearly everyone underestimates what’s required. I think that’s why I LOVE hanging out with people who understand.
December 20, 2025 at 12:46 AM
It really is just TOTALLY INSANE how hard it is to make a truly excellent book. Nearly everyone underestimates what’s required. I think that’s why I LOVE hanging out with people who understand.
Times Square is too bright, I never come here.
December 18, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Times Square is too bright, I never come here.
A glass of wine at The Society of Illustrators.✨
December 18, 2025 at 9:03 PM
A glass of wine at The Society of Illustrators.✨
Tonight is the last class meeting of the semester for my design criticism course at CCNY. Finishing a semester always feels sad—like finishing a good book. 🥲
December 16, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Tonight is the last class meeting of the semester for my design criticism course at CCNY. Finishing a semester always feels sad—like finishing a good book. 🥲
Reposted by Brian LaRossa
I wrote a piece for @archpaper.com about 18F, the National Design Studio, and the insidiousness of “rebranding” government services instead of improving them. Thanks to my editors for letting me use the phrase “tread on me daddy” in an architecture publication 🫡
www.archpaper.com/2025/12/nati...
www.archpaper.com/2025/12/nati...
www.archpaper.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:51 AM
I wrote a piece for @archpaper.com about 18F, the National Design Studio, and the insidiousness of “rebranding” government services instead of improving them. Thanks to my editors for letting me use the phrase “tread on me daddy” in an architecture publication 🫡
www.archpaper.com/2025/12/nati...
www.archpaper.com/2025/12/nati...
Reposted by Brian LaRossa
You can’t “fix” X, The Everything App by going back and posting there because the owner has this thumb on the scale of the algorithm to promote the worst ideas and people. It’s not a viable solution, you have to let it go.
Dear Bluesky liberals. Come back to Twitter. Please. PLEASE.
December 14, 2025 at 11:59 PM
You can’t “fix” X, The Everything App by going back and posting there because the owner has this thumb on the scale of the algorithm to promote the worst ideas and people. It’s not a viable solution, you have to let it go.
This essay was the most controversial thing I’ve ever written by a LONG SHOT. People were heated. The NYT researched an article about what happened. The journalist is a friend. He pivoted to just focus on typography last minute because he feared it would damage my career.
medium.com/swlh/the-ten...
medium.com/swlh/the-ten...
The Tension Between Graphic and Type Design
Note: this essay may also be found on Design Observer.
medium.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:35 PM
This essay was the most controversial thing I’ve ever written by a LONG SHOT. People were heated. The NYT researched an article about what happened. The journalist is a friend. He pivoted to just focus on typography last minute because he feared it would damage my career.
medium.com/swlh/the-ten...
medium.com/swlh/the-ten...
The first essay I ever wrote remains one of my most read—according to the analytics. Still getting steady weekly hits nearly a decade later. Maybe I should have just stopped there instead of spending 10 years feverishly trying to get better at writing lol.
brianlarossa.medium.com/the-tales-be...
brianlarossa.medium.com/the-tales-be...
The Tales Behind the Branding of 32 Storied Book Publishers
The Tales Behind the Branding of 32 Storied Book Publishers Note: an edited version of this essay may also be found on Design Observer. Logos fight for center stage in the theatre of our attention …
brianlarossa.medium.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
The first essay I ever wrote remains one of my most read—according to the analytics. Still getting steady weekly hits nearly a decade later. Maybe I should have just stopped there instead of spending 10 years feverishly trying to get better at writing lol.
brianlarossa.medium.com/the-tales-be...
brianlarossa.medium.com/the-tales-be...
The machines will still be crafting deep fakes in our image to trick each other 100,000 years after we’ve gone extinct.
December 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
The machines will still be crafting deep fakes in our image to trick each other 100,000 years after we’ve gone extinct.
