Featured in How Magazine

November/December 2011   Imagine Paris in February, clipped trees and warm cafés and virtually void of tourists. Imagine a routine of French school in the mornings and design meetings in the afternoons. Imagine creating layouts and reviewing images for one of the most celebrated Parisian figures while living in Paris. I have designed many books, mostly for artists and museums, yet this one holds a special place in my heart and in my portfolio. Rizzoli contracted me to design this book in New York and soon after the design concept and spreads were approved, I took a tiny apartment in the 5th arrondissement—primarily to study French— and to continue the production of this book. Dung Ngo at Rizzoli and Catherine Bonifassi in Paris were terrifically supportive of the arrangement and it facilited the intense production schedule that followed. Andrée Putman’s iconic checkerboard motif (which she originated with her designs for the Morgans Hotel) became the foundation of this book’s design, reflected in the front and back covers, the book’s square format, and the layout grid. In addition to her strong black & white themes, Putman has adopted, as a collector of 1930s Depression-era blue glass, that vibrant blue as her signature color. There had been other books published on Andrée Putman, but this is the first comprehensive monograph on her influential work