At right is a first look at the cover to the new Ruka Press book Horseshoe Crab: Biography of a Survivor by Anthony D. Fredericks, which will be released in May. The book is an entertaining look at the natural history and ecological niche of the horseshoe crab, a weird-looking marine animal that has been on earth since well before the dinosaurs first appeared, and one which is surprisingly critical to human health and welfare.

For the design of the cover, we wanted to develop something that focused on the unusual appearance of the title creature, and that properly positioned the book as an adult trade title similar to popular books such as The Whale and Cod. We commissioned animal illustrator Leslie Prunty to paint watercolors of both the dorsal view of the horseshoe crab, seen at right, and the ventral view, which will appear on the back cover. Leslie did a great job with a tough mission—created a beautiful illustration of a creature nobody would think of as cute. We chose the script title typeface and the hand-drawn type used for the subtitle to coordinate with it without competing. The result is an energetic cover that we think will leap off the shelves.

For more information about the book, or to be notified when it becomes available for sale, visit the Ruka Press website.

The cover for the book Joaquim Nabuco: His Time and His Legacy, designed for the Embassy of Brazil in Washington, DC, and the Library of Congress. Nabuco was the first Brazilian Ambassador to the United States, serving from 1905 to 1910, when he died. Before that, he was a key figure in the abolition of slavery in Brazil. The book is a collection of lectures and presentations given in commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of his death. The book is being used as a limited edition offering by the Embassy, not being sold to the public.

Sensical Design researched through old photographs at the Library of Congress and elsewhere to find appropriate contemporary photos (that’s Rio de Janeiro at the top, Washington at the bottom). We then combined them into a cover that is appropriate to the turn-of-the-century feel of the images, but still feels like a contemporary academic book.

We recently designed this cover for My Second Campus: The Independent Almanac of Study Abroad Programs. This new book offers a comprehensive listing of study abroad programs associated with colleges in New England. The interior is data rich and complex, requiring careful attention to detail. The cover is intended to fit in with the look of other college guidebooks, but also to stand out and draw the eye. As the first in a potential series, we intended that a change in the photo and some variations in color could differentiate future editions while maintaining the general series look.

Young Kim, the book’s editor, said “Dan’s creativity shines in the work that he did for us. He made the content of the book come alive with a finesse that shows his years of experience. The quality of the book is so much better because of him. Moreover, Dan was patient and very responsive to our design needs.”

The book is available at www.mysecondcampus.com.

At right is the cover of the second book from our publishing arm, Ruka Press: Cerulean Blues: A Personal Search for A Vanishing Songbird by Katie Fallon. Cerulean Blues describes the plight of the cerulean warbler, a tiny migratory songbird, and its struggle to survive in ever-shrinking bands of suitable habitat. This elusive creature, a favorite among bird watchers and the fastest-declining warbler species in the United States, has lost 3% of its total population each year since 1966. This precipitous decline means that today there are 80% fewer ceruleans than 40 years ago, and their numbers continue to drop because of deforestation, global warming, and mountaintop removal coal mining. With scientific rigor and a sense of wonder, Fallon leads readers on a journey of more than two thousand miles–from the forest canopy in the ancient mountains of Appalachia to a coffee plantation near troubled Bogotá, Colombia–and shows how the fate of a creature weighing less than an ounce is vitally linked to our own.

The book will be out in October and galleys are being printed right now. The challenge for the cover was to have an attractive photo of the featured songbird (recently seen in closeup on the cover of Jonathan Franzen’s novel Freedom) and still convey that the book is a narrative, not a field guide or biology text. We decided to take a beautiful photo by Brian Small of the cerulean warbler and perch it proudly on the title. This creates a mix of beauty and quirkiness that matches the unique tone of the book.

The first book from Ruka Press, Among the Ancients: Adventures in the Eastern Old-Growth Forests by Joan Maloof, is available now. You can read a sample chapter at the website. And incidentally, we also rebuilt the Ruka Press website from the ground up over the winter. Check it out, and be sure to join the Ruka Press mailing list to keep up to date with our releases, author appearances, and to get special discounts.

There was no clear winner in the voting—options one and two roughly tied—but the comments helped us clarify our thinking and make a choice. The final cover is at right—click on it so see it bigger. Now we’re working on the interior design and layout. The book will be ready for preorder in a month or two; join the mailing list at rukapress.com to stay updated, and to hear about other books in the pipeline.

We’ve recently completed a logo redesign for a nonprofit, the California Civil Rights Coalition. CCRC is a statewide alliance of civil rights organizations, activists, educators, lawyers, and advocates. Their existing logo (top) was a generic map of California matched with a wide, industrial-looking typeface. They wanted something that spoke more directly to their mission as a civil rights organization concerned with equal justice for Californians. At the same time, they wanted to place more emphasis on the acronym CCRC, rather than their long name. We presented several options, and they chose the faces in profile image shown here.

According to Rabia Shirazi of Realize Ink, who managed this project, “Dan did an outstanding job for the client and now I’m working with him directly for my own shop. He’s talent and smarts and creativity rolled in one. Not to mention he’s super great to work with–first designer I’ve ever worked with that delivered ahead of time and went above and beyond for my client!!”

Note: this was updated in October because they rearranged their initials after the logo was done. C’est la vie!

We’ve recently completed two books for the same client, Red Cell Publishing, for which we recently won an award. The first, Iran’s Dirty Banking, delves into the Iranian government’s attempts to skirt monetary sanctions, and names the foreign and U.S. banks that are helping them do it. It contains approximately 100 pages of complex tables and was designed and laid out in just three weeks. The second, On the Trail of Terror Finance, is a companion to Tainted Money, a primer on money laundering, this time aimed directly at law enforcement. The covers for both of these were designed to pick up typographic elements of the Tainted Money cover, in order to create a consistent house style without sacrificing their individual voices. They’re printing now and will be available on Amazon shortly.

“I am very happy with the end product,” said John Cassara, coauthor of On the Trail of Terror Finance. “Dan listens to his clients. He is professional, innovative, responsive, on-time, and a delight to work with.”