Lithos was newly released when I designed this book for Broken Moon Press, a new edition of poet William Everson’s 1976 book-length poem. His long, long lines dictated a large, nearly square format (10 × 9.5 inches). I had the body set in Méridien (not pictured), but for the cover and title page I chose Lithos for its earthy strength, and because its wonderful Greek-inspired Y would repeat in the subtitle.

Echoing British book design of the 1970s, when Peter Nicholls wrote most of these essays. The typeface itself is 21st century, but based on midcentury modern design. The book was published by Ansible Editions in the U.K.

From the back of the book:

In 1986, legendary science fiction writer and editor Ted White went to jail for possession and sale of marijuana. A prolific correspondent, Ted kept up a steady stream of letters during his confinement that vividly and powerfully detail everyday life behind bars, from relationships with other prisoners and guards to living in cells and common rooms – not to mention the fine jailhouse cuisine. (Seriously, don’t mention it.) Ted White’s letters make you feel like you’re really in jail…and really glad you’re not.

The cover typography combines three weights from Dattilo DJR, David Jonathan Ross’s digital interpretation and expansion of Nebiolo’s Dattilo.

Artwork by Dan Steffan.

A typographic cover design for the latest novel by Hugo Award-winner Ted White, combining contrasting weights from two slab-serif typefaces by David Jonathan Ross, Job Clarendon and Rhody.

From the back of the book:

There I was in a beat-up 1981 Chevy Cavalier with twenty pounds of marijuana, cruising up I-95, and behind me, all too visible in my rear view mirror, the flashing lights of a state trooper…

He’d been set up. Someone (and “independent consultant” Ray Phoenix was pretty sure who) had filed a phony stolen car report. When a freak bus accident allows him to escape into the woods, Ray lands in an entirely new world of trouble – small-town cocaine dealing, counterfeit money, and a web of strange and violent relationships that will take all of Ray’s considerable skills to unravel.

Deluxe 40th anniversary edition of John Crowley’s novel Little, Big, with artwork (not done as illustrations) by Peter Milton. Worked with publisher Ron Drummond to create a dance and conversation between the text and the art, while making pages that could be read comfortably and easily. The typeface, FF Clifford, with its three optical sizes and its traditional feel, lent itself well to this novel.

Annual report for the nonprofit Coaching Corps, which “works to increase access to quality sports opportunities for youth in under-resourced communities.” Showcasing Coaching Corps’ activities for potential donors, participants, and sponsors. It was small for an annual report, more like a brochure in format (though with a largish, almost square page size).

There aren’t many situations in which the wonderfully odd 1990 typeface Gestalt is appropriate, but this was one. The recognizable one-word title, with its repeated letters, cried out for a special treatment; and the descriptive subtitle, in a much more legible typeface, made it immediately clear what the book was about. Gestalt would not have worked on the spine, though, where legibility is the most important factor. Everything else on the cover (and the interior design as well) used various members of the Freight family.

Book jacket and interior page spreads for Hidden Folk, a collection of fantastic short stories by Eleanor Arnason based on Icelandic folklore. Published by Many Worlds Press.

Both the cover and the interior were designed by John D. Berry. The ampersand is included in Big Caslon as an alternate.

This book won the National Book Award for Poetry in 1996. Hayden Carruth (1921–2008) lived and worked in New England.

Everything on this book cover is a font – even the flaming bomb, which comes from the "design font" ITC Beorama.