A bold yellow square with a red circle at its center is hard to miss—especially when it appears among a stack of books. At second glance, it reveals itself as a record sleeve. Inside, a colored 10-inch vinyl catches the eye with its vivid presence. Only then does the accompanying book come into view: a yellow paperback marked by a red sans-serif headline. Together, the vinyl and the book are connected through a minimal yet striking design, defined by its confident use of yellow and red.
Typographic details play a key role in shaping the reading experience. Subtle shifts—wider kerning, all caps, italics, and varying font sizes—create a clear hierarchy and establish rhythm throughout the layout. These choices introduce structure and natural pauses, while maintaining a calm and cohesive flow. A more linear font adds contrast, drawing attention to functional elements like the timestamps that correspond to the audio track.
This interplay of two mediums—print and sound—is carefully balanced. The design gives equal weight to both, allowing each to hold its own without dominating the other. The result is a thoughtful pairing where reading and listening feel not only connected, but inherently complementary.
Flametti, or the dandyism of the poor
A novel by Hugo Ball, translated and read by Catherine Schelbert
Edition: 2024
Date of publication: June 2024
Language: English
Translator: Catherine Schelbert
Image editor: FGA
Photographer: Nienke Terpsma
Artist: Robert Hamelijnck, Nienke Terpsma, Cathrine Schelbert, Nina Hitz and guests
Publisher: edition fink , FGA, Zurich (CH), Rotterdam
Graphic designer: Nienke Terpsma (Rotterdam)
Lithographer: Georg Rutishauser, Zurich (CH)
Printer: Wilco, Amersfoort
Binder: Wilco, Amersfoort
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 11 x 18 (and Vinyl 26 x 26 cm)
Number of pages: 208
Print run: 300 sets of audiobook, paperback + 10 inch vinyl; 200 audiobooks + paperback
Price: € 37,50 (set); 25 euro
ISBN: ISBN 978-3-03746-271-3 | ISSN 1874-0227
Font and foundry: Adobe Minion Pro. Cover, Garamond Premier Pro, Adobe Caslon Pro
Binding style: unsewn softcover (cold glue)
Paper for interior (grammage): 70gsm houtvrij romandruk 1.95 cr/w
Material cover (grammage): 240gsm Biotop
Material dust jacket (grammage): 120gsm Wibalin Natural Sunshine, Van Heek Textiles
Special features: The special features are the flaming yellow vinyl and the 6 hours 40 minutes online audio the paperback gives access to. It was a great challenge and adventure for me as a book designer to edit, design and make an audio book, to shape and space an oral narration, work with a voice rather than type. To work on silences between words and sentences for instance, could be seen as an equivalent of spacing, but in a spoken text it has an enormous and incomparable impact and intimacy. The musical soundscape started with the wish to design the sonic equivalent of a cover, followed by chapter starts, and lead us to think through structure, shape, expression, identity, and mood in sound as well as image—all in the spirit of serious play that entering the field of a new medium with its specific tools and properties can invite to.