Award-Winning Book Designer for Highly Illustrated Books

Vicky Vaughn Shea is a book designer and art director with more than 25 years of experience creating visually engaging books across a wide range of publishing categories. She collaborates closely with publishers, editorial teams, authors, photographers, illustrators, and printers to develop books that combine strong design, compelling imagery, and clear visual storytelling.

Over the course of her career, Vicky has designed and laid out hundreds of books, including nonfiction coffee table books, corporate histories, cookbooks, guidebooks, gardening and home improvement titles, travel books, gift books, and children’s books. Her work often involves managing complex image programs and developing thoughtful layouts that help readers navigate visual, informational, and narrative content.

In addition to creative direction, Vicky brings deep expertise in the technical side of book production. She has extensive experience with full-color printing, file management, and prepress workflows, and has worked on press in both the United States and overseas to ensure the highest quality standards. Her production knowledge allows her to successfully manage complex printing processes while maintaining careful attention to detail.

Vicky’s work has received numerous industry honors, including multiple IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards and a PubWest Design Award. She regularly attends publishing and design conferences, including Adobe MAX and CreativePro events, to stay current with evolving design practices and publishing technologies.

Vicky has always been passionate about books and visual storytelling. When she discovered book design, she knew she had found her life  path. She especially enjoys designing visual history books and researching archives to uncover unique photographs and collections that bring stories to life on the page.

When she’s not designing books, she can often be found trail running in the Sierra mountains or exploring the desert trails around Reno.

Book Design & Layout
Design and production of covers and interiors for various  books, from concept through print-ready files.

Creative Direction & Visual Concept Development
Leading visual concept development and art direction for book projects, collaborating with photographers, illustrators, and designers to develop compelling imagery and cohesive visual narratives.

Art Direction & Creative Collaboration
Experience directing and collaborating with photographers, illustrators, editors, authors, and image archives including libraries, museums, and private collections.

Image Research & Visual Storytelling
Extensive experience sourcing imagery from online databases, archives, and on-site research in libraries, museums, and historical collections.

Publishing Production & Prepress
Extensive knowledge of the four-color printing process, preflight preparation, and file management. Experience working directly with printers in the U.S. and internationally, including on-press supervision.

Project Management
Managing book projects from concept through production while maintaining schedules, budgets, and collaboration across editorial and creative teams.

Adobe Creative Cloud
Advanced daily use of InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

Arizona Highways, Aviatrix, becker&mayer! Books, Beckon Books, Blue Sneaker Press, Broad Books Press, Bona Fide Books, Capen Publishing Company, Chalice Press, Cider Mill Press, Consumer Reports, Conundrum Press, Countryman Press, Entrepreneur Press, Essex Publishing Group, Favorite Recipes Press, Geological Society of America, Girl Friday Productions, Glen Canyon Conservancy, Globe Pequot Press, GMK Writing and Editing, Inc., Grand Canyon Assoc., Greenwich Publishing, Historic Hospitality Books, Klutz, Lake Tahoe Community College, Mint Editions, Mount Rushmore Society, Plum Street Publisher, Rodale, Rowman & Littlefield, Sonance Studio, Sourcebooks, Southwestern Publishing House, Sterling Publishing, Storey Publishing, Taunton Press, Tehabi Books, and West Margin Press. And many self-publishing authors.