Extraordinary Anywhere is a collection of personal essays, a first of its kind, that re-imagines the idea of place for an emerging generation of readers and writers.
Its design entailed a unique collaboration between authors/editors Cherie Lacey and Ingrid Horrocks and designers Jo Bailey and Anna Brown. The process of designing the book (which is explained through a “colophon essay” hidden inside the dust jacket) informed the way the editors structured the content in the book, and explored the way reading the book’s content allowed ideas for communicating visually to unfold. This included a visual content page/map hybrid inside the dust jacket, and a series of collaged symbols; one for each essay placed as markers throughout the book.

In the colophon, Jo and Anna say of the typeface choices:

We choose two typefaces by New Zealand typographic designer Kris Sowersby: Tiempos and Calibre. As designers we say it’s important that if the words are from here, the typefaces should be too—but this is partly post-rationalisation. Tiempos, our serif font, is based on a typeface for a Spanish newspaper. Calibre, our sans serif, is inspired by street signage, and though this wayfinding lineage feels pertinent, it is happenstance. We choose it because it is a consistent favourite of ours—like a typographic version of our own handwriting. It’s the other way with Tiempos; the chance to explore something familiar but different. Later we add Domaine, also by Sowersby. It is elegantly curvaceous, “Latin detailing on a Scotch skeleton”.

Extraordinary Anywhere is published by Victoria University Press.

Dust jacket reverse

Signage graphics were designed for Massey University's Exposure 2011 exhibition, as part of the greater BLOW festival. They were developed as an extension to the visual identity of the exhibition. Designed at Massey University, Wellington — thomaslebas.com

The typeface is FF ThreeSix by Paul McNeil and Hamish Muir, more precisely a bolder style from its “20” subset. See also this other example of FF ThreeSix at Massey University: The typeface was used as a concrete casting for the signage of one of their buildings — this time the slightly more eccentric and stencil-like letterforms of ThreeSix 31.

Typographic art in English and Māori by Nick Kapica, senior lecturer for Typography at Massey University.