Brown Face, Big Master book

Published in 1972, Joyce Gladwell’s memoir, Brown Face, Big Master, was an unexpected best-seller in both Jamaica and England. Nonetheless, the publisher went bankrupt and the book never got a second printing. Roughly 30 years later, her son Malcolm, now a best-selling author in his own right, set out to republish an edition of 500 copies. The studio was commissioned to redesign the book from scratch, with a new introduction and a section of historical photographs; the new edition was intended for friends, family and prominent university libraries. The design juxtaposes a classic sense of book packaging with a contemporary graphic look. The end result elicited an unexpected prize: a handwritten letter from the author meticulously noting and praising everything from the color of the paper to the width of the margins. A more gracious client has never been had.