A Song over Miskwaa Rapids by Linda LeGarde Grover

The first use of IvyOra comes from designer Amanda Weiss who describes the project as follows:

While designing the cover for A Song over Miskwaa Rapids, I had my mind set finding on a thin display typeface. The problem I faced when researching was that many of the display typefaces had thinner weights that were beautiful on their own, but were getting lost due to their contrast, as well distracting from the other cover elements. IvyOra’s Light weight was the perfect balance—not only is it elegant, but had just the right weight and contrast to stand on its own without overpowering the rest of the design. I set the title and author in lowercase to help soften the larger type size, taking advantage of the round, inviting shapes of the lowercase vowels and most importantly, the double-story g.

Fortunately, the robins ended up being the very clear answer for many reasons. We wanted something light, beautiful, and uplifting. It’s not hard to see where the inspiration came from after reading the opening sequence:

“Beautiful morning,” the robin said to himself, “and time to begin. Opiichii, opiichii niin!”
His song, a solitary voice repeating several rounds of his wake-up song, Opi chii, opii chii niin; opiichii, nagamo daa! was joined by other robins who woke and joined, each flying to a branch that swayed with the bird’s weight and the sweetgrass-scented breeze from the swamp side of the LaForce land.

Art direction by Rachel Moeller. The book will be published by University of Minnesota Press in November 2023.