The Invisible Hook
Author: Peter T. Leeson
Designer: Jason Alejandro
Photographer: Jay Simons
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Typefaces: Gotham & Amo Pro
Specials: embossed with a glossy spot UV coating
The moment I saw this cover I was amazed with how cleverly literal it was. It's an invisible hook… When a clever title meets an equally clever design. Thanks a ton for the insight Jason!
—Jason Gabbert
About the image.
I found the image quite haphazardly while looking for interesting textures for another project I was working on at the time. The wood was somewhat unique and I thought that the grain was really beautiful, so I saved it for future reference. Then, when I began to think of ideas for this title, the photograph of the wood immediately popped into my head. It seemed to remind me of something that might make up the wooden deck of a pirate ship. In all actuality, I believe it’s a detail of a wooden shed that the photographer shot.
About the book.
The Invisible Hook is an economics book about 17th & 18th century pirates that touches on areas of sociology, politics, and history. It’s intended for anyone with an interest in the history of piracy and/or economics. In all honesty though, it’s a great read for just about anyone. The book examines pirate behavior through the scope of economics and provides an interesting glimpse into some of the most notorious criminals on the seas. It raises important questions about some of the lesser-known truths of pirate lore.
About the design.
There really weren’t any constraints placed on the design, but I knew that I wanted the book to have a more cohesive design approach with the interior matching the cover. While that may be an obvious treatment in trade book design, it’s not necessarily so in scholarly publishing. For many academic texts we follow model interior designs. I think the intended design is pretty straightforward and for the most part, it really fell into place. At the cover meeting a number of ideas were raised as to how there could be an “invisible hook” on the cover (i.e. a clear acetate jacket with a frosted or semi-transparent hook, a belly band or slipcase, embossing vs. debossing). In the end, I decided to go with an embossed jacket. Sometimes it’s best to just keep it simple. Luckily, the editor loved it, and after some “back and forth” with some of the parties involved in the design approval process, it remained. Let me say this is far from my normal course of work. My creative process generally involves creating multiple variations on a number of different themes, concepts, or styles.
The author did an amazing job adding humor and wit to the manuscript with chapter titles like “An-arrgh-chy” and referring to the Notes as “Buried Treasure”. I drew a simple skull and crossbones icon that would find it’s way into the interior design as an ornamented spacebreak. I also included it on the jacket spine and it was stamped into the cloth.
The book was receiving a significant amount of publicity very early on and it was decided that it should come out ahead of schedule, this put a lot of pressure on finishing the jacket. The first set of jackets we received from the printer were nice, but it was decided that the embossing alone didn’t allow the hook to stand out enough. It was too invisible! We reprinted them with a glossy spot varnish over the embossing and it seems everyone is really happy with the results.
The bigger story here is how the author used the dedication page of the book to propose to his girlfriend. It doesn’t get much better than a love story set amidst the backdrop of pirate banditry and economic scholarship. Congrats, by the way, to the author, Peter Leeson on his engagement.
4.08.09 // Charles Brock said:
Beautiful simplicity. How could you not pick this up?
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4.11.09 // Tara de la Garza said:
nice work jason!
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4.14.09 // Ian said:
All glory be to Spot UV.
