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“I’ve been accused of choosing Ava’s name for its letterforms,” says Justin Ahrens of the die-cut logo he devised for the stark, minimalist cover of his infant daughter’s birth announcement. While he “almost” denies carrying his love of clean, simple Design to such lengths, the aesthetic permeates this unconventional 10-page booklet.

Ava is the fourth of Ahrens’s children, and so with three prior announcements under his belt he felt the impulse to “let go of the way a birth announcement ‘should’ look.” With the help of Mackenzie (6), Jackson (4) and Quinn (2), who served as assistant stylists and photo editors as well as models, Ahrens crafted a trompe l’oeil publication that transitions from impersonal to intimate as the pages turn. While the cover most resembles an annual report, the pages that follow hold irresistibly cute photos of the older kids against bright backdrops, channeling catalog models and bursting with enthusiasm for the new arrival. Only the final pages of the document reveal its true nature: Beneath the requisite new baby stats, a serenely sleeping Ava, swaddled in pastel purple, quietly makes herself known. by Taylor Stapleton