When designing books, Claire Huss is unafraid of bold crops and unexpected colour combinations

While she works as a designer and art director, Claire Huss’ varied practice pivots on photography. With an exquisite sensibility for the best visual pace, pairings and crops, Claire’s image treatment is a stand out feature of her editorial work, especially evidenced in her ongoing collection of Cropped Women. This expertise in print and “strong consideration for materiality” within Claire’s practice means that she often finds herself working on publishing projects, taking pleasure in the editing and sequencing of photographs when translated them into print.

The designer has been running her Paris-based studio since 2018, working for a range of international clients in the worlds of art and design as well as fashion and lifestyle brands. Prior to establishing her solo practice, Claire honed her skills in crafting publications, as well as packaging and promotional material, as lead graphic designer at the fashion brand Cos. She’s has also done her fair share of design work for various studios and agencies across London from Wieden & Kennedy to Pentagram and Wallpaper*.

A bit of an expert in the field, the designer’s carefully considered work isn’t only focused on creating the most elegant solutions for each project’s material output, but also ensures that printed matter is “designed in the most sustainable way”, Claire tells us. “I always look for environmental solutions whether it’s a material or type of printing technique [...] I give a lot of attention to this material sourcing and enjoy searching for interesting and surprising papers”, she says. This appreciation of materiality extends to her thorough design process, in which she makes multiple mock-ups of each of her books by hand to define formats, folding systems and small detail. She’s also unafraid of colour. Instead, she likes to “celebrate” it by unearthing “unexpected combinations”.