Alessandro Segalini

Typesetting details:

A 6×9" 244-page book (33 lines per page), with 72 images including portraits and stills from Melville’s films, all optimized, and with captions. Set in OHno Swear Text, an original sharp and ultra readable seriffed design born out of the flat brush. The display type is Astigmatic Makeshift AOE, an offbeat angular font inspired by the lettering made for Le Doulos. The book includes endnotes numbered by chapter, a filmography, a bibliography with an “electronic and video sources” §, and an index set in two columns. The opening spread features a photograph from the shooting of Le Samouraï (1967). The title page includes my digitization of Melville’s signature. Typesetting time: 6 weeks in 38 design sessions; 18 proofing files.

Cover design details:

6×9" spine size 0.554" (244 pp.).
The cover features a still picture from Un flic (1972), that gives the favorite twilight “midnight blue” mood; the image is full of Melvillean elements, from the car to the colors to the hatted thieves and so forth. The display type is Astigmatic Makeshift AOE, an offbeat angular font inspired by the lettering made for Le Doulos. The text font is OHno Swear. The cover also features my digitization of Melville’s signature; even if it is not as legible as print, it provides a degree of mystery and enigma, which is alluring, seductive, and more intriguing than being overt. It is as allusive as the cover image itself.

Educational:

The book and its cover was subject of a design educational exercise at Binghamton University, in collaboration with film critic and scholar, author & editor Andrew Dickos.

Podcast: @ARTS310

Reviews: @Ultradogme, @TheTLS