The protagonist of this epic novel is a Korean-American Princeton graduate, who, while working on Wall Street, dreams of being a milliner. The top hat, the classic hat of the millionaire, was chosen over something more feminine. The type was fashioned after a British milliner’s label. Additionally, I thought the circle had the subtlest Asian sensibility.

I found the vintage hatboxes, or they found me, when looking for something else in a dusty antique store. Originally, I had envisioned and photographed the top hat worn by an Asian woman dressed in red. As an afterthought, I asked the photographer, Elizabeth Watt, to shoot the top hat with the hatboxes. They had been stacked in my office for a while and I appreciated how the gold diamond and silver stripe patterns worked together. Obviously, the women’s pastel hatboxes were the yin to the top hat’s yang.

A captivating title and a beautiful photograph integrate well with the playful typography.