In an effort to foster relationships and create dialogues with the creative forces that inspire us, “We Are Each Other” is an on-going series that spotlights designers in various design disciplines. These in-depth interviews and essays showcase our belief that we are all extensions of a larger artistic community, inspiring and motivating each other to new heights of imagination and innovation.
If there were a type police, Lindsey Voskowsky would be the inspector general. She’s notorious for scrutinizing every facet of type. Why you ask? As a book designer she lives and breathes finding the best way to use type to make books come alive. One of the pitfalls of most young designers is understanding the power of how great type can set the tone for great design.
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Lindsey Voskowsky. I work full-time as a book designer at Yale University Press in New Haven, Connecticut. I sometimes dabble in freelance design work as well.
Selected Work
5 typefaces that you are currently digging right now
Gotham (specifically Light or Thin)
Sabon
Mrs Eaves (looove the ligatures)
Trade Gothic
Helvetica
4 books that inspire you
The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst
Of course. This book has SO much information on typography, it kills me. It’s an essential, and one of the first books on typography I acquired while in school for design. The book itself is wonderfully designed, and the language Bringhurst uses is both accessible and endearing (8.8.3: Keep the page design supple enough to provide a livable home for the text — lovely!).
Designing Type by Karen Cheng
This book entirely engulfs you in the elegance and exquisiteness of letterforms, investigating the design of every single form that makes up a typeface. It has offered me just about EVERYTHING there is to know about the design of typography, and I love the disgusted looks I get from my family when I read it in the living room (“Why are you reading about font still?”).
On Book Design by Richard Hendel
The format of this book alone inspires me; its healthy vertical measurement makes it a pleasure meander through when reading in an unconventional spot. It profiles several different book designers and their approaches to the art, as well as provides tons of sample pages of design. Truly inspiring to a person like myself who is tackling interior text design full-on.
Andrew Wyeth Catalogue of his 1970 Centennial Exhibition, presented by the MFA Boston
I love Andrew Wyeth’s paintings and drawings; he’s probably one of the few painters that I’ve ever proclaimed that I’ve loved. His quiet landscapes and strange portraits put me in some sort of a mood (sullen? whimsical? melancholy?). This book is especially nice because there are little blurbs under each painting that explain (sometimes somewhat poetically) how Wyeth had come to be connected to the depicted subject. I like to look at this book when sitting with a friend on the couch or the floor.
3 people you admire
Edvin Yegir (a former design professor of mine)
Randall Hoyt (another)
My parents, with all of my heart and head
2 things you want to do before you die
Have and keep my own small bee farm
Write and publish (and probably design) a novel
1 motto you live by
It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all
To view more of Lindsey’s work please click here
Interested in being featured as a spotlighted artist in our new “We Are Each Other” series? Or do you know someone you think we should spotlight? Drop us a line at waeo<‘at’>theretrospective.com!
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Lindsey, my dad is a beekeeper. I can tell you close to anything you want to know. His website has much to be desired, hence why I’ll not publicly post it just yet.
ps, currently I dig Calibri