Laura Shaw has been designing books since she was six years old. In collaboration with her sister, she wrote, drew, and stapled such timeless bestsellers as Girls, Forin Girls, and A Whimsicle Account of the Adventures of Daffnie Hobbs.

While attending the School for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, she continued along this path using hand-colored photography (Morning Face), xeroxed collage (A Sad Fate), and a loaf of Wonder Bread (Loafing Around).

Needing to earn her keep—and being unsuited to any profession that required stockings and heels—she found herself working in publishing. Starting small at a mom 'n' pop publishing house specializing in Oriental Medicine, she learned the difference between serif and san serif type, the ABC's of how real books are made, and just how bad Chinese medicinal herbs can smell while boiling on the stove.

Moving on to a bigger company, she went to work for Shambhala Publications—first as a production editor and then designer. Under the tutelage of the stern but not unkind art director, she continued her education in classic book design and production. She spec'd books by hand, matched arcane fonts for reprints, typed up detailed instructions to compositors on an actual typewriter, and finally got them to buy a mac.

A move to New York brought the grand chance to work for the big boys of publishing. At Random House, Laura was the Promotion art director for the Knopf Group. In charge of seven imprints, she and her staff produced over 200 projects a year—everything from stickers to brochures to floor displays. During this time, she still managed to freelance book design and found that she was happier designing something that had a chance to last rather than be destined for landfill (not that she has anything against floor displays but their longevity is not something they are known for.)

Moving west to Portland Oregon, she was hired as the at-large art director for Tin House Magazine and Books. For four years she designed and produced their quarterly literary magazine Tin House as well as numerous book covers and interiors for clients nationwide.

She currently lives Santa Barbara, California with her husband and cardigan welsh corgi.