HAMILTON: The REVOLUTION
Being the Complete Libretto of the Musical, with a True Account of It’s Creation, and Concise Remarks on Hip-Hop, the Power of Stories, and the New America
Patient
- Melcher Media
- Grand Central Publishing
Treatment
- Design
- Art direction of photoshoot
Diagnosis
Hamilton: The Revolution is a commemorative book for the groundbreaking Broadway smash. The text takes a more literate approach than the average behind-the-scenes Broadway book, and we wanted the design to reflect that. An elegantly understated approach allows the content to shine, and special production touches add historical flair.
• 9 x 10.5 • black foil stamping cover on uncoated stock • faux-leather wrapped spine with hubs • pulpy uncoated ivory stock with rough-cut edges • 288 pages, 4-color hardcover book
Photography by Josh Lehrer, Joan Marcus, Matthew Murphy, Frank Ockenfels
Product photos by Jason Varney
Accolades
- AIGA’s 50 Books / 50 Covers 2017
- AIGA Philadelphia Design Awards 2016; bronze award
- Communication Arts Design Annual 57, 2016
- Graphis Design Annual 2017; gold award
- How’s International Design Awards 2017
- Print’s Regional Design Annual 2017
- New York Book Show 2017; 1st place; Special Trade, Gift
The pulpy cream paper, rough-trimmed pages, and raised spine hubs make the book reminiscent of a volume that could have lived on Alexander Hamilton’s bookshelves.
The chapter titles are inspired by letter-press typography styles of the time, with rows of type set in different sizes, styles, and spacing to emphasize their content.
Peppered throughout the book are artifacts, both historic and current. Included are Hamilton’s letter to Anjelica Schuyler, The Reynolds Pamphlet, and vintage illustrations, as well as artifacts from the making of the show such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s notebook pages and Paul Tazewell’s costume sketches.
The libretto is broken up and spread out between the main chapters of the book, with Lin’s extensive and enlightening annotations living in the margins. Gritty and historically accurate fonts were used for the libretto to contrast with their modern counterparts used in the chapter text. Full-bleed photos and weathered-parchment backgrounds help further differentiate the libretto from the main chapter text.
Much of the photography was specially commissioned for this book. An exclusive performance of the show was set up for the photo shoot, with photographer Frank Ockenfels up on stage moving amongst the actors to give the images an intimacy that can’t be captured from the audience’s viewpoint.
The text pages for King George’s songs switch to red to emphasize how the King’s songs interrupt the show, as well as hint at the bloody carnage the King has caused back in his own country.
Josh Lehrer’s portraits of the cast are shot in the style of platinotype prints from the 1800s.
Back-stage photos—also shot by Ockenfels—are black and white to contrast the full-color of the production shots.
The book was released as a deluxe edition exclusively for Barnes and Noble. The book was packaged in a slipcase, along with a cd of Lin-Manuel Miranda reading his footnotes to the libretto and an envelope that housed various pieces of memorabilia. Included are three framable portraits, a letter from Alexander Hamilton to his wife Eliza, and a double-sided poster.
