Photographer Peter Vanderwarker wanted to create a publication that would showcase his amazing photographs of Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project, but he wasn't sure who would be the most appropriate audience or which publisher could best reach it.
Recognizing that the visceral appeal of the photographs would enthrall younger readers, we recommended pitching it as a book for young adults and their parents. Peter's contagious enthusiasm for the Big Dig was another great asset, so we asked him to write the text, too. Once we had developed the outline and design approach, we placed the book with Little, Brown's Children's division.
The Big Dig is a project of staggering complexity and proportions. How could we distill so much often-technical information? Close work with the author followed by a careful edit of the manuscript helped situate it in ways that would appeal to the broadest audience. Careful selection and sequencing of photographs and specially commissioned illustrations render the concepts more understandable and lend to its high-energy visual appeal, which provides a foil for the astonishing photographs. The book's design renders the vast changes in scale, light, and matter in ways that are at once exciting and comprehensible.
Concept and manuscript development
Complete editorial work (line and copy editing, proofreading, text management, and index compilation)
Full design program (dust, jacket, cover and interior)
Type composition
Collaboration with printer on separations and correcting color proofs
Press approval