We’ve just put the wrap on Trust Tree Designs’ latest print project, The Orchestral Harpist, and we can’t wait to show it off! Our monumental 96-page design is a collaboration between Harp Column Music (a division of our flagship brand Harp Column) and Sarah Bullen, former Chicago Symphony Orchestra principal harpist.

In case you’re not familiar with Bullen, let’s just say she’s a superstar among harpists, and her word on orchestral excerpts is, well, the “word.” So it was pretty important for us to nail the design on this book. Trust Tree Designs oversaw every step of the project, from music notation and editing to cover artwork and the full book page layout.

“From a design perspective, the biggest challenge was creating a fresh, modern look, while also giving a nod to the client’s previous projects in this genre, which are well known in the field,” says our print design specialist Alison Reese about her goals with bringing the project to life. Here are some of the design elements we incorporated in this project:

• We utilized white space to highlight the copy, providing balance for pages heavy with music notation.
• We organized and separated content by using lines.
• We chose typography that both matched the classic nature of the content and also connected the project’s look to the nameplate of the publisher’s flagship magazine to provide brand continuity.
• We incorporated magazine design elements such as pulled quotes and sidebars to make the content more reader-friendly.

Take a look at our showcase page to see more design features of this project, and see the book for sale at Harp Column Music. We’d love your feedback on this project! Get in touch to let us know what you think. 👇