Designing a Debut Book Series: Belonging in a World of Relations
The Center for Humans and Nature’s editorial team asked LimeRed to design its first book series, Kinship: Belonging in a World of Relations (link to the site). We had finished the organization’s new messaging and visual identity; this was the first big product.
Book Design
The 5-part book series, Co-edited by Gavin Van Horn, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and John Hausdoerffer, had a big job: to convey the book’s essence, reflect the new branding, and appeal to a broad market. We had a blank slate in front of us, so we led creative sessions with the working team to focus on a few themes for the design.
The book’s themes are Planet, Place, Partners, Persons, and Practice — growing from the large to the small, so we decided to use an illustrative style and work backward. We made the art for the books simple to complex, from big to small.
The books must also look stunning on display, so we created a companion box for the set.
