The Brief
Design a publication that transforms a personal, research-driven narrative into a physical object worth holding, and a digital experience worth clicking through. The subject: how 100 songs can map the emotional geography of belonging to a place.
Not a playlist. Not a listicle. A book that earns its binding.
Editorial Direction
The concept hinged on one question: what does it feel like when a song becomes inseparable from a place?
The answer had to live in the typography, the pacing, the paper stock decisions. Every spread needed to balance lyrical intimacy with the rigor of a well-edited publication. The tone sits between independent music press and literary journal. Warm but never sentimental, structured but never rigid.
Typographic System
Two typefaces carry the entire publication:
Broadsheet for display and titling in small caps. A compact, high-contrast serif that grounds the editorial voice with authority and gives the cover its landmark presence.
Calluna for body text and pull quotes (semibold and italic weights). A humanist serif, warm and highly readable at small sizes, versatile enough to shift from narrative passages to song annotations without losing rhythm.
The type scale was designed for sustained reading: generous leading, optical margin alignment, and a consistent baseline grid that holds across two-column and full-bleed layouts.
The System
Grid & Layout
The interior follows a flexible two-column grid that adapts per spread. Sometimes asymmetric for visual tension, sometimes centered for emphasis. Pull quotes interrupt the grid intentionally, creating pause points that mirror the experience of a song stopping you mid-thought.
Color & Production
The palette is controlled: warm neutrals with selective accent moments. CMYK output was calibrated for uncoated stock, the kind of print that has tooth and weight. Every color decision was made with the physical object in mind, not the screen.
Pacing
The publication is paced like a mixtape. Opening spreads build slowly with context and atmosphere. The middle section hits its stride with tighter song-by-song entries. The final pages pull back to reflection. This deliberate rhythm keeps the reader engaged without fatigue.
Browse the Publication
A preview of the publication as an interactive flipbook. Drag to turn pages, click the edges, or use arrow keys. Expand to fullscreen for the best experience.
The Object
Extended System
The publication's visual language extends beyond the book itself, into supporting objects and presentation contexts that reinforce the editorial identity.
Listen Along
The playlist that started it all. Every song in the book, in order. Hit play and let the whole project make sense in your ears.
The Playlist
100 songs. One place. Press play.
The Result
This wasn't about making pages look nice. It was about building a complete editorial system: typeface pairing, grid logic, pacing strategy, production-ready output, then translating that same object into a digital reading experience that preserves its character.
Print design that thinks in systems. Digital execution that respects the original.