It’s not routine for me to commission custom photography for the books I design, but it’s not unheard of. I love to work with a photographer when I can, as it always enriches the project, and adds something very noticeable, and often essential to the finished product. And when I do work with a photographer on a book project, the first person I think of is Geoff Spear. He’s done amazing work for many other books I’ve done, such as Dread and Superficiality, Wacky Packages, and was the co-author and photographer on our book on Captain Marvel Shazam! Geoff co-authored that book with designer Chip Kidd, who he has collaborated on many many projects with, and their long history of working together is how I came to know him and work with him myself, since Abrams has published several books that the two of them created.
For this project, we needed to improve the original cover photograph (not by Geoff) to satisfy the feedback our internal cover committee had given us. I also needed to spice up the interior of the book and illustrate several key elements featured in the book. Geoff was available, so we went to the home-goods store Fish’s Eddy for its classic American feel, purchased some props, and headed over to his studio.
