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Design Category
Book design, 1998
Design firm
Smart Art Press (Santa Monica, California)
Collection
(1999) 50 Books/50 Covers of 1998
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From the beginning, the author and editor knew that this novella—a contemporary mystery and love story spanning three centuries—should be illustrated. Marrying the contemporary and antique qualities of the story while retaining the air of “mystery” led to the selection of Rocky Schenck’s photographs and the use of details from Vermeer’s paintings. Tracey Shiffman’s choice of vellum for the illustrations, so that the text is revealed through the veil of the Vermeer paintings, brilliantly expressed the multi-layered content of the book, and her refined design sensibility deftly resolved the historical sweep of the novella.