Our wonderful Designer – Marjolein Coenrady – recommends GRACE: The Music of Michael Tilson Thomas (released in October 2024).
“I proudly present you a very special PENTATONE release with 18 works by American composer and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas: GRACE. I had the honour to design this extensive book, that contains monographs, composer’s notes and a wonderful biographical photo timeline. And last but not least: 4 CDs!
When I first heard about this project, I was determined to make this a very special one in terms of design. Together with the team behind this book, I developed a vision and a style for this book. First of all, it is very important that a book gets a good structure. As a designer I pay a lot of attention to this, to make sure the book is easy to read. I loved thinking about details for this book: on the cover the text GRACE is printed using foil print, there are little tabs that show on which CD you can find each composition, and the book has a ribbon bookmark. Throughout the book I worked with a colour palette of blue and ochre yellow. A recurring design element in the book is the abbreviation ‘MTT’. I created a pattern with these letters that returns on the endpapers and the pages that separate the chapters.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to design this tribute to Michael Tilson Thomas. And please note that all proceeds from GRACE will be donated to brain cancer research at the University of California, San Francisco Brain Tumor Center.“
Marjolein Coenrady, Designer
