Meet Rafael Andres Pio

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rafael Andres Pio a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rafael, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

Well, I would not dare to say I have fully overcame it, the thought crosses my mind almost daily, specially when I face a creative challenge and no fresh ideas come to mind.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am a graphic designer with over thirty years of experience working in various fields of graphic arts. Originally from Barcelona I now reside in the United States, having been naturalized just last May. I grew and worked in corporate identity, publishing and packaging in several studios in Barcelona until at thirty four years I decided to take a sabbatical traveling the World. I ended up living in Bangkok and starting CoverKitchen with a college friend offering design services online. We specialize in work for publishing and we have created covers for both publishers and authors in Europe, US and Asia. In Bangkok I met my now wife Lindsay, she is from the US and eventually we moved to Arizona, just a month before the pandemic. In CoverKitchen we work with a small team spread between the US, Spain and Thailand and we still focus in creating covers and typesetting interior of the best possible quality we can attain.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I grew up drawing comics, when I finished high school I was supposed to go to college so I decided to pick Fine Arts as I did not want to spend five years learning something I did not care about. I liked movies, reading and comic books so it was the only thing that make sense to me.

How would you describe your ideal client?

I like clients who know why they are paying me to do the job: because I know better. The author’s input is fundamental to create a book cover, after all the author knows the book better than anyone but writers are wordsmiths and rarely trained or endowed with a particular sensibility for visuals, so, after the initial briefing it is always advisable to unleash the creative flow within the parameters of the book’s target market and genre.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coverkitchen.com