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Printer, Binder, Romance Novelist
Audrey Niffenegger is a printmaker, bookbinder and novelist. In fact, the author photo on the jacket of her new novel shows Ms. Niffenegger standing behind a Vandercook.
The book, The Time Traveler’s Wife, might be the sweetest and most honest thing I've read since The Story About Ping when I was 5. It could be described as nothing more than a highbrow science fiction romance novel, which is a bit of a simplification, but with a fair amount of action ocurring in the Newberry Library and with appearances by Rudolf Koch and the Kelmscott Chaucer, I found it particularly resonant.
Niffenegger currently teaches printing and printmaking at the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book & Paper Arts.
Posted by Joshua Lurie-Terrell | March 01, 2004 | LINK|
Comments
If this one does well, then perhaps they will want to make her name larger than the book title, on the cover. In which case the designer will want to use one of only 3 typefaces ever invented in the ultra condensed, display, serif, category. nick | Mar 3, 2004 01:06 PM
Modula, Marten, and what? hhp
Modula, Marten, and what? a few wood Antiques; plus Onyx; Sol Hess's Spire; Middleton's Lafayette; Cheltenham Compressed; and Latin Condensed. and we can't forget Karnak Obelisk! there's a face that deserves to be revived. nick, what was your short list? are these all wider than what you had in mind? Mr. Schwartz | Mar 3, 2004 08:09 PM
I will chime in on this tangent with Vendome Compress. Stephen | Mar 4, 2004 05:20 AM
Well, the figure 3 was a figure of speech, I didn't have anything in mind beyond Rod MacDonald's "Loyalist" (I think he based it on an older face, perhaps Eden), which I have seen used for quite a few romance covers, particularly on a series for Sandra Brown. I've designed a few romance covers, and been surprised at how few ultra condensed serif faces there are, and they all seem quite dated (retro, rather than classic). Yes, I've used Onyx, but its contrast can be a bit bold. For a couple where I wanted a classic look, I set the title in ITC Garamond Condensed, and Arepo, drastically squished them, and then corrected the stroke/serif weight distortions. So, I would say there is a need/market for a plain, classic, ultra condensed serif typeface. Bureau Empire, while not serifed, does have stroke contrast, and is, along with Agenda Thin Ultra Condensed (also from the Bureau), the "purest" in the category -- they are really, really condensed, but still with a typographic personality not totally overwhelmed by the genre. nick shinn | Mar 4, 2004 02:23 PM
Dennis Ortiz-Lopez also has a few very nice ultra bold condensed serif faces, some of them revivals of woodtype and others original. joshua lurie-terrell | Mar 4, 2004 02:29 PM |
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