raymond carver catalog

book cover design

I first read Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral” in art school and since then few writers have left a more profound mark on me. Like Carver’s writing, I knew the imagery had to be sparse, mysterious, visceral, and capture that “smoldering joy”. I turned to the work of photographer Todd Hido, and working closely with him and the Carver estate we made an edit of Todd’s photos that brought each of these classic titles back to life.

The type is a combination of the high and low: a tacky freehand supermarket font and Walbaum, a refined serif typeface from the 19th century Weimar Republic.

PROJECT: The Raymond Carver Catalog
AUTHOR: Raymond Carver
PUBLISHER: Vintage Books
DATES: 2009
CREDITS: Peter Buchanan-Smith (design); Todd Hido (photography), John Gall (art director)