DESCRIPTION Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology Book CLIENT Smithsonian Folkways Recordings DATE March 2011 DESIGN CREDITS Visual Dialogue Design Director: Fritz Klaetke Designers: Fritz Klaetke, Will Thomas, Jesse Hart PRINT CREDITS Manufacturing: Tri-Plex Packaging Manufacturing Representative: Jason Roth, Tri-Plex Production Manager: Mary Monseur, Folkways TYPE CREDITS Trade Gothic Extended Compacta New Century Schoolbook

PRODUCTION COST $99.98 Retail PRODUCTION TIME 4 months DIMENSIONS: WIDTH × HEIGHT × DEPTH 6.625 in × 11.25 in PAGE COUNT 200 PRINT METHOD Book: Offset Slipcase & CDs: Silkscreen NUMBER OF COLORS 4 VARNISHES Cover: Matte Film Lamination Disc Pages and Endpapers: Spot Aqueous BINDING Hard Cover, Section-sewn, "Lay-flat" Binding

In its own words, the Smithsonian strives for THE “increase and diffusion of knowledge.” It also happens to be the largest museum complex in world. So if the smithsonian decides to do anthology of jazz music, you better listen closely and pay attention. A project like this is no small feat, and you can gather that Visual Dialogue really busted their chops on this one.

Jazz: The Smithsonian Anthology traces the history of jazz through 6 CDs (111 tracks) and a 200-page book featuring essays by 30 writers and a treasury of rarely-seen photographs. Visual Dialogue referenced the graphics and color palette of original Folkways JAZZ LP covers but created an entirely contemporary package. The interior layout has a “theme and variation” layout with body text tightly adhered to the grid, while title blocks and photos are free to move. It was great to see that time magazine called it “the single best introduction to America’s first great musical form.”

One of the main challenges from a design standpoint was coming up with a package design which integrated the CDs into the overall book form. Once that was finally worked out the rest of the design fell in place.