American Robin
Dr. Joy, my lifelong mentor, reached out to me to lend a hand in creating a web book for her friend, Dr. Len Eiserer who is author of The American Robin: A Backyard Institution, published in 1976. Dr. Eiserer is in his late 70s and would like to leave something behind.
I loved the idea of leaving a legacy in the form of a web book; therefore, I offered to design the web site. Dr. Joy agreed and gave me a copy of Dr. Eiserer’s book. The print version of The American Robin was beautifully typeset complemented with witty line drawings by Martha R. Hall.
Typeface
As I was reading this fascinating book about an American bird, Warbler Text, designed by David Jonathan Ross, came to mind for the body text. Both Robins and Warblers are songbirds. When I set Warbler for the book site, it was gorgeous and readable. I decided to go with it.
Illustrations
With Ms. Hall’s line drawings, I took pictures of them right out of the book and converted them to vector graphics using Adobe Illustrator. I was surprised how well Illustrator turned bitmap images into vector sketched arts.
Design
For the design of the book site, I focused on readability, legibility, and accessibility. Of course, the layout is responsive so the book can be read on any device. I read from cover to cover and loved it. I invite you to read it too. Thank you Dr. Eiserer for this wonderful gift.