Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich

When I’m not on duty as a Godine intern, the majority of my time is spent doing one of two things: attending my Graphic Design classes, or doing homework for them. In my print-based course a few weeks ago, my professor displayed some images of particularly beautiful book covers to demonstrate effective book design styles and strategies. One of the covers he chose to show was in fact a Godine publication: Men of Letters and People of Substance by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich.

As you can see, the cover is indeed compelling, but the content is remarkable. Who could have imagined that a typeface could so elegantly portray the face of Virginia Woolf?


Or that Stephen King could emerge from the letters that spell his name?


I so thoroughly enjoyed the artwork contained in the book, as well as the concept behind it, that soon after I finished reading, I looked further into de Cumptich as an artist. Once you get the hang of it, his website offers a creative and unique display of his work, including links to two other websites with which he was involved. One of these (www.wordsatplay.com) even gives you an animated sneak peek at his book! (Hint: click the moving vertical lines on the homepage.)

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