Project brief: Photographer Michael Light presented us with two series of photographs: “LA Day” and “LA Night.” The aerial photographs of “LA Day” show Los Angeles in the unrelenting light of the desert sun. “LA Night” depicts Los Angeles through the glittering of electric lights as nightfall transforms the city. In early presentations, Michael Light was not sure if these two bodies of work should be presented separately or together.

Approach: We decided to use a Z-binding format to showcase the two volumes within one book. The task was to emphasize the dichotomy of the two bodies of work while unifying them within a single object. We struggled to re-create the intensity of the dark blacks in the images, and ultimately found that printing in four-color (as opposed to duotone or tritone) helped achieve the deeper rich blacks the artist wanted. It wasn’t what we expected at the start of the project, but it helped both the budget and the proofing process.

Effectiveness: Michael has been thrilled with the book. Even the planned exhibitions of the work have been somewhat shifted to reflect the design and sequence of the book.

Best use of a double binding in recent memory. Beautifully understated typography.