The front cover of the book Glass by Emily Cooper. An abstract, white, panelled Georgian window motif sits atop a deep, rich blue background. Above, at the top of the cover, a quote from Jack Underwood reads 'Cooper is a poet of impressive deftness and idea'. In the top right is the Makina Poetry logo, the words sitting within two interlinked circles.
A render of the back cover of the book Glass by Emily Cooper. An abstract, white, Georgian archway, made up of ornate, swirling moulding, sits atop a deep, rich blue background. Within the archway are three review extracts.

A deep dive

Our design process for Emily Cooper’s wonderful first collection of poetry inspired a rich foray into Regency-era design, along the way exploring the patterns of cornices, the practice of steel plate engraving and the theme of dilapidated grandeur—what could be a more thrilling excavation?

We talked quite early in the process about creating a feeling of transparency within the cover—a notion of looking through the book—so the measured but ornate forms of the emblematic Georgian window always felt fitting: a linear and architectural aproach that sat timelessly with the themes of renovation and the cyclical nature of design.

When I showed Emily the initial palette, she immediately mentioned Yves Klein Blue, and it was these deep, rich, vivacious blues that felt so prevalent throughout the work—the blueprints of both restored and dilapidated grandeur, the ubiquity of the sea and even the concept of glass and what colour it feels.

Patrick turned a simple short collection of poems into a beautiful object that is as pleasurable to hold in your hands as it was to make. A wonderfully positive experience.

Emily Cooper
The inside cover spread of the book 'Glass' by Emily Cooper. The left page is partially obscured by the flap of the book's front cover, which has a deep, rich blue background and a tall paragraph of text blow the title 'About Glass'. Below the flap is a repeated pattern of interlinking circles which each contain an ornate, arrow-like shape. The right-hand page has a line of text in the shape of an archway, with the word 'Glass' at the very bottom, its letters all higgledy-piggledy, as if it has come loose from the arch and smashed on the floor.
A render of a spread from the book 'Glass' by Emily Cooper. The left-hand page contains the same abstract Georgian archway, made up of ornate, swirling moulding, as the back cover. The right hand page contains an index listing the poems contained.
A spread from the book 'Glass' by Emily Cooper. Paragraphs of black text run across two white pages.
A spread from the book 'Glass' by Emily Cooper. Paragraphs of black text run, rotated 90 degrees to the left, run across two white pages, contained within an archway-like shape.
A render composite of the book 'Glass' by Emily Cooper, with accompanying sticker and card.

Into the groove

Following the thread of Regency-era design, I explored a vast gamut of architectural forms, architraving, cornices, wallpaper and typography. With the latter, I was very keen to use a chronologically relevant typeface that had stood the test of time for the body text of the book, and despite my innate ambition to find something unique and less omnipresent, good old Baskerville persevered throughout every round of my typographic tournament!

For the books title text—for which we eventually chose Masqualero Groove—Id been keen to explore typefaces that had the decorative boldness of grooved lettering, a style which took-off distinctly towards the end of the Regency period after being made possible via a new method called steel plate engraving. Beyond this period link, it was the titles context within the window frame motif that really attracted me to this idea, both mirroring the linear grooves of the woodwork itself and evoking etched letters upon the glass, like the window of an ancient pub in some narrow, winding alley.

I worked with Frontwards Design for my first ever publication, Glass, with Makina Books. The attention Patrick paid to my poems, and the design features he conceived to be in conversation with them, meant this was a wonderfully positive experience. From the carefully selected typeface, to the Georgian inspired wallpaper on the inside cover, to the formatting choices of the pages themselves, Patrick turned a simple short collection of poems into a beautiful object that is as pleasurable to hold in your hands as it was to make.

Emily Cooper