AIGA Design Archives

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Design Category
Book design, 1996
Design firm
Fairbairn & Company (Fredonia, New York)
Collection
(1997) 50 Books/50 Covers of 1996

Description

Anna Clift Smith was an artist, writer, illustrator, carpenter, and a feminist who lived alone in a small cottage on Lake Erie. The book includes a facsimile of Smith’s original diary as well as a biographical essay and photographs and illustrations of the area. The choices for design, type, size, paper, and binding are all sensitive to the original diary and reflective of the author’s humble, independent, and pioneering spirit. Many people collaborated harmoniously on the project, which celebrates the strength and joy of women.

Credits
Art director/designer: Jan Fairbairn
Photographer: Sue Besemer
Authors: Anna Clift Smith, Wendy Woodury Straight
Typefaces: Adobe Garamond, Adobe Garamond Expert
Printer: Thorner Press
Fabricator: Lynne McElhaney-Kirk/Dun Bindery
Papers: Mohawk Superfine Text, Soft White Eggshell;, Cover, Mideggen, Paste Paper Surface Treatment
Publisher: Friends of Reed Library (State University of New York College at Fredonia)