My work: Books
Here you will find a small selection of books—each with its own story, audience and design challenge—along with what I like to call “Lessons and Little Gems”: wise, funny and interesting things I learned from the stories inside.
Along the Road to Gundagai by Jo Gilbert
Biography celebrating the life of Jack O’Hagan and pop culture in Australia (504 pages)
This book tells the remarkable story of Jack O’Hagan—songwriter, pop singer, publisher, actor, playwright, radio personality, and advertising ‘mad man’. Rich with facts, stories, songs, photographs, theatre programs, and music artwork, the challenge lay in shaping it all into something clear, structured and beautiful.
Lessons & Little Gems: On Saturday nights in the 1930s, up to 3,000 people flocked to the all-night Green Mill dance hall parties, immaculately dressed in tuxedos, extravagant frocks and gleaming shoes. Today, the Green Mill site is home to Melbourne’s Arts Centre.
The Salon Series by Lisa Conway
A three-book series of business guides for the hairdressing and beauty industry (276; 300; 312 pages)
Aimed at enhancing salon operations for salon owners, these three influential books are filled with tips, quotes, illustrations and no-nonsense advice. With each book following the same core style, we designed them to reflect a straightforward attitude—clear, functional and practical—while incorporating unique elements in each to give them their own distinct personality.
Lessons & Little Gems: Beware of the crab in the basket—don’t let anyone pull you down and keep climbing!
The perfectly imperfect little girl by Dr Michelle McQuaid
Story book for kids and adults (44 pages) and Women's journal (136 pages)
Published by the Good Girl Game Changers, this set is designed to help girls and women break free from societal “good girl” beliefs and embrace their true selves. Our goal was to create books that are inspiring, fun and immersive—making the journey of healing and self-discovery both meaningful and enjoyable.
Lessons & Little Gems: Your brain loves a party! Celebrating small wins helps make self-kindness your new default.
Qenos Technical Guides
A comprehensive set of polyethylene technical guides (320 pages)
This suite was produced with Qenos as a valuable resource for engineers, scientists and manufacturers. Designed in alignment with the Qenos brand, each guide was to follow a consistent structure to support navigation and comprehension, with subtle design features that keep the focus firmly on the content.
Lessons & Little Gems: Why do bottles squish and pipes don’t? Same plastic, different personalities. Soft bottles use low density PE, tough pipes use high density PE. It all comes down to structure—and ingenious processing.
Collected Works by Demeter Press
Independent monthly publications dedicated to motherhood, feminism and family (280–500 pages)
Demeter Press publications are peer-reviewed scholarly works that explore maternal theory, feminist studies and social justice. Their titles feature essays, memoir, book and film studies, poetry and art. Text heavy and lengthy, these books are typeset with a very clear and consistent structure. Most recently, Demeter and I celebrated the publication of our 100th title.
Lessons & Little Gems: Demeter, the world’s first feminist press dedicated to motherhood was founded by Dr. Andrea O’Reilly. Her work has significantly turned motherhood into a movement and helped establish maternal studies as a legitimate academic field.
Treasure Island by Rodney Berrell and Nicole Kelly
A travel size guidebook for exploring Australia’s geological treasures (164 pages)
This pocketable companion for both seasoned geologists and beginners is packed with images, maps, detailed illustrations and stories of the treasures hidden beneath Australian soil. It was designed to be colourful, bright and clear—inviting to browse, easy to navigate and easy to come back to.
Lessons & Little Gems: When panning for gold, you’re more likely to have success beside a gently flowing stream.
Imagined Kinships by Melanie Guile
A thesis tracing the Cookson family’s founding of Highlands Boarding School in Sumatra (184 pages)
Telling the remarkable story of a 1920s boarding school for colonial children in the village of Kaban Djane, Sumatra, this thesis-turned-book was designed within strict academic guidelines—including specific page dimensions, structured headings, image placement and detailed foot and shoulder notes.
Lessons & Little Gems: At a safe house in Java, away from war-shadowed Medan, the Highlands boarding school children were told to keep blackout curtains drawn—not because of air raids, but to keep prowling tigers away.
Behind the Curtain by Ray Peace
A vibrant journey through the rich history of one of Victoria’s most beloved community theatres (240 pages)
The theatre is many things to many people—for the 1812 community, it was everything. This historic gem is filled with interviews, stories, photos, programs, posters, drama, mystery and heartbreak. With so many stories and images to honour, the challenge was to give each one its rightful place.
Lessons & Little Gems: The 1812 was known for its love of the unusual—like Phantom Call, a comedy about amateur spiritualists who received horse racing tips from ‘the other side’.
No Props No Problem by Mark Collard
A high-energy guide filled with engaging, no-equipment games for groups (272 pages)
Designed to build and grow connections in the workplace, this book features 150 activities, each accompanied by playful illustrations and easy-to-follow instructions. Our goal was to create a resource that’s user-friendly, straightforward in structure and genuinely fun to use.
Lessons & Little Gems: Approach is everything.
“Thank you Michelle for creating order from chaos and producing our books with care and competence. Should all authors and publishers be so fortunate.”
Andrea O’Reilly, Demeter Press