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Design Category
Book design, 1998
Design firm
Diane Jaroch Design (Rockford, Illinois)
Collection
(1999) 50 Books/50 Covers of 1998
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This book is a retrospective of the work of Baldwin Coolidge, a photographer who opened his studio in Boston in 1878 and worked for four decades capturing images of New England. Duotone printing was essential in order to replicate the sepia tones of the originals, but this limited the page count to 200 because of its expense. How to organize all of the material into these 200 pages was the biggest part of the design challenge, the luxury of one image per page being impossible. Photographs of similar content were paired, making room for the most dramatic ones to be featured in full-page bleeds, adding variety and contrast to the layout. Keeping the trim size to a modest 10.5 x 9 inches gave the book a more intimate, photo album feeling and made the volume extremely easy to hold and enjoy. Ultimately, the design simply sought to enhance the beauty and historical value of these wonderful photographs.