Seyle: Words

For Seyle: Words our goal was to present a writer’s work in the same way a photographer would present a portfolio of photographs. In other words, not to describe or explain how the writer works, but present pieces of things he has written and let them speak for themselves.

With a target audience of corporate executives, we didn’t want to create something too flashy or overdesigned that could easily be thrown away. We wanted to show readers that the writer’s words could educate, sell, or inform an audience without relying on images in a layout to tell the story. By keeping the layout simple and allowing the words be the focus of the design, we were able to give each writing sample its own personality and type treatment.

The budget of $8,000 to $10,000 was spent almost entirely on production costs, mainly printing and binding the book. By using a combination of side-stitched binding, Japanese folded pages and letterpressed type on uncoated vellum stock, we were able to communicate the right look and feel for the book before even opening the book.

According to the writer, the first mailing to only 10 potential clients resulted in an immediate assignment that repaid the total investment in the printed piece. About 80 percent of recipients have responded with e-mails praising the piece, and about two-thirds of those have provided names of additional people it should be sent to.

“A reinvention of traditions, with reverence and ingenuity. This is a wonderful example of modern design that may stand the test of time.” Archie Ferguson

“Simply elegant.”  Isabel Warren-Lynch

“This is weird and eccentric, like the use of space. The oddities work. It is modern, though formal.”