About TPC
A little about me
Hi! I'm Tim Palin. Thanks for checking things out here. 
I was born a small baby in Salem, Massachusetts.
I’m not a witch. 
I promise. 
But it’s true. I grew up in Peabody a few minutes down the road from the witch gallows. To avoid public shaming, don’t pronounce it “Pea-Body,” but rather PEEbuhdee. 
I was a creative little tyke, drawing monsters and dinosaurs and monkeys…lots and lots of monkeys. I drew sad self-portraits that I would slip under the door to the outside world when I was sent to my room. From elementary school all the way up through college, I took as many art classes as I could. I wasn’t a math whiz. And I certainly wasn’t taking the science world by storm. But, hand me a ball of clay, or a sketchpad, or egg cartons and Popsicle sticks and suddenly I could create the world that was inside my head. I loved it all. I loved making stuff. 

At Salem State College I discovered the glamorous and dangerous world of graphic design. After graduating, I began my design career in event and marketing companies in greater Boston, mostly for the free trips and parties. I did it all: brochures, ads, custom packaging for promotional mailings. 
Then all heck broke loose. 
In 2005 I moved from Boston to NYC to become Promotional Art Director for ELLEgirl Magazine, working with fashion brands including America’s Next Top Model, Marc Ecko, TJMaxx and Baby Phat. Janice Dickenson kissed me on the mouth. 
Eventually, after a couple of years of photo shoots and cocktail parties, I moved into book publishing as Senior Designer for Disney Editions/Disney Press. Later I designed for PlayBac Publishing and Bill Smith Group. 
Now I am primarily designing and producing books for both the children’s and adult contemporary markets for publishers including Cantata Learning, Scholastic Books, Blue Apple Books, Girl Scouts of America, Hinkler Books, Enchanted Lion Books, PrintMatters, Thunder Bay Press, The Book Shop Ltd. (for Race Point Publishing, Sterling Innovations, Thunder Bay), and Octane Press. All the while, I still get to have the branding, identity and promotional design fun with a variety of clients. 
But after many years of lying dormant, the monkey-drawing kid in me has re-emerged with a vengeance. I’ve dusted off my sketchbooks and pencils (real and digital) and begun to indulge my passion for drawing even as I continue to do the design work I love. I’m art directing and illustrating for the children’s and tween book markets and my inner little Timmy Palin is having a blast. How can you not have a blast drawing a rhino in a tutu?

Professionally, I’ve navigated almost every aspect of the creative services and publishing industries. I bring to every client and partner a very adaptable design sensibility with focus and a commitment to making things beautiful. Whether it’s a book publishing project, magazine layout, identity piece, marketing design or the cutest, fuzziest bunny I can muster, I do whatever it takes to achieve the perfect finished product. I’m not afraid to admit that I’m a finicky perfectionist and your projects will benefit from that. 

But most important to me is that we have some fun together . . . and make fantastic stuff!
How I spend my days
ART DIRECTION AND GRAPHIC DESIGN:
A 400-page cookbook of apple recipes? A fashion spread for your dog-centric magazine? An advertising campaign for your off-broadway production of Steel Magnolias? A complete brand identity for your teeth-whitening clinic? I bring the same level of passion, research, and design expertise to the table. Sure, the path to get there is different for every project, but we do reach an end result that's eye-catching and engaging. It's my motto to "make something every day"...and make it beautiful.  
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTION:
Contracts! Timelines! Templates! Spreadsheets! I've always been a sucker for details and organization, which is funny having been a "creative type" my whole life. But maybe it's about balance. Exploring the expanses of art and creativity while managing deadlines and calendars seems to round out a project for me. So, whether it's managing all of the art, design and production of 50-100 picture books simultaneously or coordinating your branding agency's own branding, a soup-to-nuts project is a blast.
ILLUSTRATION:
"You can't make a living drawing pictures" . . . can you? That's what I always thought. Well, after years and years of hiding my pencils and pads in boxes in a closet, I decided to challenge this theory. Guess what? I'm a working illustrator. And now, some mornings I wake up with one job for the day . . . make pictures of a hippopotamus climbing a tree. It's one of those " love my job!" moments, and it feels great!

Some partners, clients and
clients of clients I've designed for
Bharat Babies
Blue Apple Books
The Book Shop, Ltd.
Books Are Fun
Bookworks
Cantata Learning (Learning Focus, LLC)
Catbird Books (Catbird Agency)
Disney Publishing Worldwide
ELLEgirl Magazine
Enchanted Lion Books
Fearless Critic
George’s Table
Girl Scouts of America
Hinkler Books
Houghton Mifflin
Insight Editions
Law Office of Kimberly L. Kelly
Learning Wood
Letter Better
Lion Forge Comics
North Fork Guest House
Octane Press
Papercutz
Playbac Publishing
PrintMatters
Race Point Publishing
Scholastic
SoftPlay
Sparkhouse Family
Sterling Publishing
Stuff Magazine
Vibe Magazine
Thunder Bay Press
World of Pawsibilities
ZonderKidz
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