Illustrated book designer: on doing my job well
Posted by Peter Blaiwas on Thu, Oct 07, 2010
This year, type designer Matthew Carter was awarded a MacArthur "genius" grant for being in essence the founder of digital typography. Having spent a lifetime designing typefaces for print media, in the early 1980s he was called upon to create alphabets and other characters specifically meant to be seen on digital displays—before anyone really knew what a digital display might be. Every day, billions of people throughout the world depend on his work. Like electricity, it is ubiquitous, seamlessly functional, indispensable. Yet the vast majority of those people have never heard of Matthew Carter and are completely unaware of his achievements.
This is as it should be.
I am not a type designer, but I like to think that, like Carter's, my work in illustrated book design (as well as other types of graphic design) functions fundamentally in the service of the reader. Each page that I work on requires me to address and solve the same basic problems he faces: balance, proportion, clarity, variety, order, harmony. When I do my job well, the reader has the means to enjoy an aesthetically consistent reading and viewing experience. That’s something I consider to be a great luxury.
And the ultimate compliment? Few readers will ever stop to notice or even think about their presence or use.
