Meet Gunta Lauck

The difference lies in the logo on the cover. At her home company Carlsen Verlag, says GROW participant Gunta Lauck, the logo is prominently placed in nearly always the same position. But at Bonnier Fakta, where she is on a four-month exchange, the logo on the cover of the books is integrated into the design. "It is subordinate to the illustration and typography," she says. "And I admire this very much."
 
Lauck, 31, lives in Hamburg and has been working at Carlsen Verlag for more than seven years, currently as a production manager. "I am responsible for five to nine publications per month in the graphic novel and comics genres," she says. Besides activities such as production-related management, typography and cover design, she works with calculations, data archiving and the commissioning of external service providers. However, at Bonnier Fakta she is working exclusively with design, side by side with Bonnier Fakta's Nina Ulmaja.
 
"My tasks are to create cover and content designs - my first cover design was a cocktail book last week - and I am also responsible for deciding the design of entire books," Lauck says. "Now I am working with a book series about quickly prepared food, Mat På Minuten."
 
One of the main reasons Lauck chose to participate in GROW was to see how Swedish publishing houses work and experience other ways of working and living. "I have to admit, my first impressions and enthusiasm have to do with book design," she says. "I think BonnierFakta and Albert Bonniers Förlag are some of the best publishing houses of Bonnier, along with Carlsen Verlag, of course. Their books are esthetically beautiful, distinguished and sophisticated." So she had no choice but to come to Stockholm, she says.
 
Of course it's not all work. Her favorite spot in the city is a little restaurant called Babs, next to the Zita movie theater near Stockholm's Humlegården park. She meets fellow GROW participant Christiane Bartelsen every Wednesday there after work. "We eat something delicious, drink and discuss Stockholm, work, movies, literature... life!"