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Design Category
Book design, 2003
Design firm
Alfred A. Knopf Publishers (New York, New York)
Collection
(2004) 50 Books/50 Covers of 2003
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After looking through piles of boring, poorly lit, close-up studio portraits of Sammy Davis Jr. that did nothing to capture his dynamic and spirited essence, I was ecstatic to come across this photograph, which to me says it all—which is why I kept the typography as simple and unobtrusive as possible.
“This could have been so cheesy—gold foil embossing over blown photo with glossy lamination—but instead it is tasteful, elegant and subtle and yet still does not exclude the expected audience for this book, even gives them more credit aesthetically than is generally believed.” Archie Ferguson “Sometimes less is more—a classy way to handle a celebrity biography. The group did think that the red spine fought with the front and back, though.” Isabel Warren-Lynch