17. DESIGN: MW
Before he was hired to design a companion book for the HBO series Six Feet Under, J.P. Williams had never seen the popular show. The creative director at design: mw flew to Los Angeles for the project meeting and spent the bulk of the day in his hotel room catching up on some episodes. “In designing that book, we asked Grant Peterson to photograph the TV show set,” he says. “And from that came these really amazing photographs.” Unfortunately, only seven or eight of the haunting images made it into the book, prompting Peterson to commission design: mw to do a separate book for him.

The result is an understated, 5½ x 8½-inch piece with page after page depicting the show’s funeral-home set. Williams put a good deal of emphasis on the order and pacing of the images, and this is where his TV watching came in handy: He wanted the book to unfold similar to scenes on the show. This careful storytelling is supported by a black cover that helps make the book memorable, and clean typography that doesn’t detract from the images. There’s also a highly personal touch to the book: Since he wasn’t allowed to shoot the actors, Peterson used himself as a model for a cadaver shot. It’s an eerie self-portrait.
Michelle Taute