PROJECT DESCRIPTION

I had the amazingly good luck to research, write, and design _The Rob Roy Kelly American Wood Type Collection: A History and Catalog_, which serendipitously mirrors Kelly’s experience researching, writing, and designing his foundational _American Wood Type: 1828–1900_ (1969).

In designing this book, I consciously played against Kelly’s American Modernist-driven choices for American Wood Type. He used black & white images organized into a rigid two-column grid of one single-sized, fully-justified serif typeface, wrapped up in brown book cloth and a black & white jacket. I tried to use color dynamically inside and out. From the magenta book cloth with purple foil-stamp, lime green book ribbon, and endpapers printed in orange and warm red, all the way down to the 6pt footnotes printed in two-color gradients coded to (subtly) distinguish different sections of the book.

The typeface selection was the most critical aspect of the design for me. I attempted to adopt a nineteenth-century maximalist approach — using sixteen typefaces throughout the book — while using types that still provided robust visual impact without sacrificing the possibility of nuanced micro-typography. I felt the selection needed to maintain legibility for extended reading while also providing a rich typographic texture that would make looking through the book more fun. I wanted this mix of typefaces to be dynamic and engaging without overshadowing the images of nineteenth-century type specimen catalogs, printed specimen proofs, type blocks, and other realia that comprised the rich visual material of the book.

BOOK INFORMATION

Trim Size: 9.25 × 11.75 inches

Number of Pages: 408

Binding Method: Saddelstitch, Hardcover

Paper: 157gsm Gold East Matte

Typefaces: Lexicon No 2 by Bram de Does, The Enschedé Font Foundry (1992); Salmanazar by Juliette Collin, 205TF (2018); Sentinel by Hoefler & Co (2004); Covik Sans by James Edmondson, OH no Type Company (2019); Triptych by Ellmer Stefan, The Pyte Foundry (2019); Antica by Alejandro Paul, Sudtipos (2020); Antique No 6 by Paul Barnes, Commercial Type (2019); Bitstream Clarendon by Edouard Hoffmann and Hermann Eidenbenz, Haas Foundry (1953) / digitally revived by Bitstream (1990); Bureau Grotesque by David Berlow, The Font Bureau (1989); Caslon Ionic by Paul Barnes, Commercial Type (2019); Egiziano Classic by Dennis Ortiz-Lopez (1990); Egyptian 710 by Cherie Cone, Bitstream (1990); Obviously by James Edmondson, OH no Type Company (2019); Omnes by Joshua Darden, Darden Studio (2006); QFWFQ by Ellmer Stefan, The Pyte Foundry “52 project” (2016); Service Gothic by Nick Sherman, HEX Projects (2021)

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director:

Art Director:

Book Designer: David Shields

Jacket/Cover Designer: David Shields

Illustrator:

Photographer: Romy Suskin Photography

Picture Editor: David Shields

Production Director: Robert Kimzey (UT Press)

Production Coordinator: Linda Ronan (UT Press); Dan Pederson (UT Press)

Production Artist: David Shields

Other Credits: Erin Mayes — Design doula; Alexis Courtney — Documentation photography

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