42 UIUC SCHOOL OF ART & DESIGN
Following the “IMPACT: The Synergy of Design, Technology and Business” conference, Deana McDonagh, professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), asked a variety of participants, professors and students to write essays on issues covered at the conference for inclusion in a book.

The greatest challenge in designing the resulting book, according to Jennifer Gunji, assistant professor of Graphic Design, “was the disparity of the information. I wanted it to be informational and also give each designer, each chapter an aesthetic of its own.” At the same time, Gunji wanted to give each chapter—whether written by a famous designer or an undergraduate—the same value. She “followed some boundaries, markers and formal aspects, examined what they were trying to communicate, and then tried to find the best structure to heighten the reader’s experience with the text.” The cover of the book followed suit. Although many of the designers involved lobbied for a “loud and flashy” treatment, Gunji felt subtle was stronger. “It wasn’t about the book saying ‘look at me’,” she says. “It was about the content. I wanted people to feel the debossing, think ‘there’s something in here,’ and then open it up and be enthralled by what they found.” by Laurel Saville