The challenge for this project was to create a distinctive and elegant honorary volume—a festschrift befitting an emeritus professor who was a pioneering scholar in his field—on a very tight budget. The default specifications were to be the standard 8.5 x 11 format, matte coated paper, black ink only. Our design solution called, instead, for a smaller trim size that would produce a more substantial book block, for an off-white uncoated paper, and for the application throughout of Pantone Black 4, which produces a slightly brownish hue and lends a subtle warmth to both text and reference images. Without the luxury of process inks or additional spot colors, carefully composed typography was essential, and all design elements needed to work in solids, tints or dropouts.

An inspired ode to a professor’s life’s work imbued with importance and warmth, due to design decisions of trim size and color. We were impressed with the typographic skill evident throughout, as well as the strong spreads that introduced each essay.