Tom’s Background

Tom launched Carling Design at the dawn of digital publishing in the early 1990s—often described as the last golden age of magazines, before the internet and rising costs fractured audiences and revenues. During this period of booming start-ups and redesigns, Tom art-directed quarterly fan magazines for Topps Co. and Lucasfilm and began a long, rewarding association with Sports Illustrated. There, he produced special advertising features, harbingers of —and eventually—the magazine industry’s hallmark for quality custom content publishing.

As the magazine market contracted in the early 2000s, Tom expanded into children’s nonfiction book design, partnering with publishers and book producers (Tom is an Affiliate Member of the American Book Producers Association). Over time, he has produced hundreds of school/library and trade titles for leading publishers including Dorling Kindersley (Eyewitness), Scholastic, Time Inc., National Geographic Kids and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This work naturally led to assignments from college textbook publishers such as Macmillan Learning, who sought Tom’s expertise in engaging young readers to help design some of their most important titles in the sciences and humanities.

Today, Tom continues to work as a freelance children’s book designer, most recently adding Random House Children’s Books to his client roster. He also collaborates with a steady stream of self-publishing authors who trust his experience and creative judgment to bring their passion projects to life. And not neglecting his first love—magazine design—Tom currently produces two annual alumni magazines for Pace University.

Tom works out of his loft in lower Manhattan, next to the Brooklyn Bridge.

My clients tell me I put them at ease because I’m as engaged, collaborative, and dedicated to results as any in-house member of the team. They tell me I offer the best combination of talent, dependability and price and they reward me by coming back time and again. The average length of relationship with my top five clients: 12 years.

Here’s what one of them has to say. Read more testimonials here.

Career Highlights

• Average length of relationship with top five clients: 12 years.

• Redesigned What is Life?, best-selling college biology textbook in U.S. for Macmillan. 2013

• Redesigned Scholastic’s annual Year in Sports; sales up every year. 2009 – present

• Hired by Holtzbrink VP, John Sargent as a design consultant for Bedford/St. Martins and WH Freeman. 2003 – 2016

• Generated 600K+ in unit sales for Scholastic with innovative design for Book of Lists. 2003

• Several children’s books recommended by the American Library Association for reluctant readers. 2000 – present

• Created more iconic DK Eyewitness and other DK books than any other outsourcer

• Created hundreds of special sections for Sports Illustrated bringing in 300 MM+ in revenue. Sections regularly placed in the top 10 most noticed features. 1990 – 2007

• Art directed 20 issues of Star Wars Galaxy Magazine (Topps Co./Lusafilm) 1995 – 1999