Robin Brooks, book designer.
Robin Brooks, book designer and owner of The Beauty of Books, loves the quiet intimacy of book design and the designing of artist catalogues. Besides the intuitive sensing of the "character" of the book or catalogue, there is a sculptural quality about this kind of design. Consisting primarily of typography, much of it concerns the relationship of areas of type to each other. Also involved is the spacing and size of the type, the balancing of white space, the boldness or quiet of the page and its weight. Type either stands alone or interplays with photography or art.
As a book designer, Robin Brooks loves to read what has been written or spend time with the art until it enters her, sinking deep down. A sense of the work surfaces then. Its flavor. The size and feel of the finished form. She travels to the marrow to bring back the essence so that when it is finished — printed — not only are you reading the words or viewing the images, you are holding in your hands its most natural form.
Robin enjoys, too, the close connection with the client — and the team — that being a book designer yields. There is a proximity of subject to client that is more intimate than most. This work has, after all, been a focus for a considerable amount of time, and it is now on the path of being birthed.
"In this work I am following my heart.
"I come from a place of fascination for the process of the human experience. I stand in awe of what each experience is and of how we perceive and then "speak" who we are and what we do on this planet, whether in words or visual images. When we chronicle the days that we have been here and the years, we create a record for others to learn from.
"In this work I am following my heart. It is my honor to be one of those who gives form to this record. It is a gift to me. In return, I offer my capabilities to 'yield and harbor' what has been created.
"I came up the road one day, and a deer crossed over from one side to the other. She stopped and looked at me. As we locked eyes, I felt her gentleness and her strength. I realized that the best I can do for the work that has been given to me is to bring that same gentleness and strength to it. Bring my own ability to quietly and gently "listen" with all that I am to who is speaking and what it is they are saying. And at the same time, let my own inner strength and wisdom lead me to the form that the work itself seeks."
– Robin Brooks, book designer and owner,
The Beauty of Books
