Says The Sacramento Bee: "A Handsome Book"

Have you heard the news? There's good rockin' tonight.

The Sacramento Bee just discovered ROCKIN' (see the article, shown left, from today's Business section). I couldn't be more proud of designer Brent Rector, about whom the article was written. He absolutely aced the project. Everyone who's seen the book so far has commented on his conception, which is dignified but also spirited, full of mellow touches, tones, and aspects that engage the reader very comfortably and happily.

My Dad, Philip Grushkin, was also a book designer. He handled in his lifetime close to 1,500 books, for many publishers, but most for Harry N. Abrams, the worldwide leader in artbooks. He told me a book design is successful when it's invisible, meaning the reader never has to labor to overcome the designer. In a good book design, the grid and typographic elements illuminate the author's concept along with the book's contents. Nothing jarrs that reader from experiencing the book--nothing in the design is so boastful that it's the designer who's calling out, before anything else, "look at MY cleverness."

I would say this: the role played by the designer is crucial, yet it's best appreciated subliminally.

Like all beautifully designed books, ROCKIN' is simply inspired. I take my hat off to you, Brent. It's the first of many to come from you and the team at FUEL Creative Group, I do believe.