Boo Billstein is a print junkie, quilt maker and vintage hunter from Tacoma, Washington.
Hello there! I’m an editorial art director and designer. Journalism is in my blood, and my career so far has been a Seattle print-media tour of duty. I've worked for The Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly, and “Your Guide to a Kid-Friendly City,” Seattle's Child magazine. I’ve recently returned to The Seattle Times to design their Sunday magazine, Pacific NW. It’s an honor to help tell the Northwest’s stories each week.
I strive to make information so readable it melts into your eyeballs. My expertise includes marrying words with visuals to explain complex topics, and coaxing loads of disparate content into cohesive, engaging packages. I enjoy collaborating with illustration and photography talent to tell stories with big impact, and sweating the tiny details with templates, style sheets and photo editing.
My colleagues describe me as a designer who thinks like an editor; an upbeat problem solver with a flair for organization; a self-deprecating perfectionist; an editorial strategist with natural branding instincts.
I'm open to fun collaborations designing books, magazines and digital content that radiate playfulness and humor. Specific areas of interest include sustainability, craft, home decor, how-to and children's genres.
My creative sidequests:
Hooga Booga Home is my Etsy shop. It showcases vintage items I’ve collected between Washington state and Montana. Ceramics from the ’70s, snowy landscape paintings, Scandinavian folk art… these are a few of my obsessions. Psst: Hygge (pronounced "HOO-ga") is the feeling of coziness and contentment evoked by simple comforts.
Quiltsrÿche is my quilt studio. It began in 2006 with the mission statement, “Making modern heirloom quilts just like your metal-loving, half-blind grandma would.” My skull quilts incorporate bold color and thrifted textiles into reworked traditional patterns.
Dare to Be Square Quilting is my how-to book. It features beginner-friendly quilt and patchwork projects that are designed using just simple-to-sew squares and rectangles.
“As a designer, Boo is impeccable, and as a crystalizer of pop culture, unimpeachable.”