My name is Jared Bartman, and I’m a multidisciplinary freelance designer and illustrator, with a focus on book covers, editorial illustration, branding, and websites. I live in Peoria, Illinois in the United States with my wife and our two sons.

I believe that work is transformative. I love stunning visual design, magical print and digital experiences, captivating storytelling, and transcendent musical moments. I aspire to bring more of the work and ideas I love into the world through my professional and personal design and art practices. Let’s make something beautiful together.

Say hello or inquire about collaboration at jaredbartman@gmail.com


Select Clients:

A24
Alfred A. Knopf
Astra House
The Atlantic
Avid Reader
Business Insider
Deep Vellum
Doubleday
The Economist
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
GQ
HarperCollins
Harvard Business Review Press
Harvard University Press
Lincoln Center Theater
New York Magazine
The New Yorker
The New York Times
Other Press
Pantheon Books
Peninsula Press
Radiolab
Random House
Rodrigo Corral Design
Scribner Books
Square
Transit Books
Two Lines Press
Vanity Fair
Verso Books
Viking Press
Vox
W. W. Norton & Company
The Wall Street Journal
WIRED Magazine
Yale University Press
Die Zeit


Press:

The Rumpus, “50 of the Best Book Covers of the Year (So Far), July 2026”

Literary Hub, “The 13 Best Book Covers of July (2026)

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, July 2026”

SPINE, “July Book Covers We Love! (2026)

Literary Hub, “The 13 Best Book Covers of May (2026)

SPINE, “May Book Covers We Love! (2026)

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, May 2026”

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, April 2026”

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, January 2026”

Creative Review, “Jared Bartman on the benefits of changing career paths, October 2025”

The Casual Optimist, “Notable Book Covers 2025”

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, October 2025”

SPINE, “September Book Covers We Love! (2025)

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, September 2025”

Print Mag, “20 of the Best Book Covers for May 2025”

Print Mag, “30 of the Best Book Covers for April 2025”

Literary Hub, “The 14 Best Book Covers of January (2025)

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, January 2025

SPINE, “January Book Covers We Love! (2025)

The Casual Optimist, “Book Covers of Note, October 2024

Literary Hub, “The 11 Best Books of October” (2024)

Nice Words:

“Jared always finds the heart of what a piece is about and translates it into a kind of mascot or emblem that clicks the ideas into a kind of harmony and provocation. I love seeing what his brain turns up! He can work in a vacuum or with input and inspiration beautifully.”

— Lulu Miller, Radiolab