Our office designed a number of items in honor of Richard C. Levin’s twenty-year Yale presidency. The most significant of these was ‘Shining Furrows’: A Celebration of the Presidency of Richard C. Levin, a picture book with timeline that documents many of Levin’s achievements as president. ‘Shining Furrows’ was a major project comprising significant editorial, design, and coordinative work by our office. The content-gathering team included contributors from many departments across the University, and we enlisted designers Julie Fry ‘92, MFA ‘00, and Jessica Svendsen ‘09, MFA ‘13, to help drive the design side of the project.
‘Shining Furrows’ was presented to President Levin at a celebratory dinner held in Sterling Memorial Library on April 5. For that event, we also designed numerous print materials in collaboration with Angie Hurlbut MFA ‘97, including a Cole Porter-themed, Levin-customized songbook; a hand-bound booklet of Jane Levin’s February 2013 lecture to Berkeley College seniors, titled Love Song for Yale; and the invitation/confirmation card, complete with envelope and “blueprint” vellum cover.
As the venue for the dinner, Sterling Library provided us with an excellent opportunity to try out our three-dimensional design skills. The colors, content, and typography of the installations in the nave and transepts were derived from the design of ‘Shining Furrows.’ We created an installation in the card catalog, a corridor display highlighting major improvements to the University that were effected by Levin, and a faux leaded-glass tribute to President Levin intended to blend seamlessly into an existing interior window. We also consulted with the Office of the Vice President on everything from table settings that featured 3d-printed centerpieces highlighting some of the new buildings completed under Levin to flower arrangements to lighting configurations.
Above: RCL’s “blueprint for Yale” napkin with logo designed by Angie Hurlbut MFA ‘97 of AHdesign.
Finally, we designed The Worth of the University in collaboration with Rebecca Gibb ‘83, MFA ‘92. Published by Yale University Press, the book is a collection of speeches and essays from Levin’s second decade as president. It is a companion volume to The Work of the University, whose publication in 2003 (also by Yale University Press) celebrated the first decade of his presidency. For this project, our office designed the jacket, featuring an image by University Photographer Michael Marsland, and interior text pages.
Above: Detail of typographic page designed by Rebecca Gibb ’83, MFA ‘92.
We thank all of our vendors and the staff and students who provided skilled and timely support to these design efforts. Congratulations on twenty years of inspired leadership at Yale, Mr. Levin, and best wishes for the future!
Photographs of faux leaded-glass, Malone Center centerpiece, and Mr. Bass with blueprint napkin courtesy of Michael Marsland.