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. 💙❤️
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.
Use only ONE piece of art to convince folks to follow you 🥰
December 8, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Use only ONE piece of art to convince folks to follow you 🥰
Someone just liked this post from June 2024 and I realized it wasn’t tagged for #kidlit the first time around. These prints are 🔥.
Went to the Whitney Biennial and stopped by the selections from their permanent collection and found a WHOLE ROOM of prints by Wanda Gág, the author/illustrator of “Millions of Cats!” 🤯
December 7, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Someone just liked this post from June 2024 and I realized it wasn’t tagged for #kidlit the first time around. These prints are 🔥.
Reposted by Brian LaRossa
How many designers does it take to be a studio? I wrote about how "studio" has shifted from structural descriptor to signal; shorthand for how a practice wants to be read. But as "studio" stops signaling size + authority, do mythologies around growth collapse too? www.itsnicethat.com/articles/eli...
Elizabeth Goodspeed on how many designers it takes to make a studio
The question of what counts as a “studio” – and what you call one – reveals the industry’s ongoing tension around identity, ambition and scale.
www.itsnicethat.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:22 PM
How many designers does it take to be a studio? I wrote about how "studio" has shifted from structural descriptor to signal; shorthand for how a practice wants to be read. But as "studio" stops signaling size + authority, do mythologies around growth collapse too? www.itsnicethat.com/articles/eli...
Reposted by Brian LaRossa
It is that time of year, so I thought I’d mention that my book YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION is very much a thing you can buy for any tech workers in your life. Or yourself!
You can buy it just about anywhere books are sold—or hey, ask your library to grab a copy! ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-de...
You can buy it just about anywhere books are sold—or hey, ask your library to grab a copy! ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-de...
December 5, 2025 at 7:48 PM
It is that time of year, so I thought I’d mention that my book YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION is very much a thing you can buy for any tech workers in your life. Or yourself!
You can buy it just about anywhere books are sold—or hey, ask your library to grab a copy! ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-de...
You can buy it just about anywhere books are sold—or hey, ask your library to grab a copy! ethanmarcotte.com/books/you-de...
omg i forgot the last #kidlitartpostcard of the year is today! been spread so thin lately.
😭🫠
Will be scrolling!
💙❤️
😭🫠
Will be scrolling!
💙❤️
December 5, 2025 at 2:19 AM
omg i forgot the last #kidlitartpostcard of the year is today! been spread so thin lately.
😭🫠
Will be scrolling!
💙❤️
😭🫠
Will be scrolling!
💙❤️
If you can maintain good momentum, keep the reader on their toes, and develop strong stakes through the first 10 chapters of your novel, and the ending is tight, then you’ve earned the right to get loose and weird in the middle.
December 4, 2025 at 2:30 PM
If you can maintain good momentum, keep the reader on their toes, and develop strong stakes through the first 10 chapters of your novel, and the ending is tight, then you’ve earned the right to get loose and weird in the middle.