Working on a Winning Book Design

LONGWOOD COVERED COURTS AND THE RISE OF AMERICAN TENNIS
by Alan Lawson and Mark T. Williams

I’ve been fortunate to have worked with many terrific people in my life. Tony Saizon is one of those people. We worked together for a few years at Houghton Mifflin Company, in the College Division, where he was my Design Director and mentor. We both run our own design businesses now, and continue to collaborate on projects.

Last year, Tony hired me to do the design production on a special book being produced by the Longwood Cricket Club to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Design production is a combination of graphic design, layout, image retouching, and prepress preparation for printing. I jumped at the opportunity, not only because I always enjoy working with Tony, but because Longwood is such a revered institution in the world of tennis.

Tony’s design and art direction of the book found just the right balance between historical appreciation and contemporary style. He hired a photo researcher who had the daunting task of finding appropriate, well-preserved images (she did a fantastic job). My role was to put it all together with consistency and attention to detail. There were several others on the team, including 2 writers, project manager, and printer. It took 7 months of design, reviews, revisions, and coordination among the several team members to get the final book done. When we were finished and the files were safely in the hands of the printer, New England could probably hear our collective sighs of relief!

Our efforts were rewarded when we were notified that the book had won the Best in Reference Category Award at the New England Book Show. The full list of winners is on the Bookbuilders of Boston website. Below is a sampling of the book cover and some interior pages: