Surrounded by
history.

The last document President John F. Kennedy signed in the Oval Office, an item from Thomas Edison’s groundbreaking test in Menlo Park, a letter from Thomas Jefferson linking the Declaration of Independence to the Constitution—all of these historical artifacts and more line the office of the Raab Collection as we met to kick off our first project. Raab Collection, a purveyor of precious historical artifacts, had all of the expertise and know-how to be one of the most successful dealers in the industry. Frankly, they were doing quite well—but they had bigger visions. From hand making their own catalogs in the basement of their home when his father first started the business, Nathan Raab knew that it was time to turn their annual catalog into a precious artifact itself.

This project spoke to us in many ways—as print designers who marveled at the antique paper that has held up for hundreds of years, the type and grid structure as meticulously laid out as our own, this was a project that we really could dig our teeth into. By studying the typographic and layout details of these old documents mixed with delicate finishes and careful annotations, we brought what was previously a typical, glossy, shopper’s catalog into a piece felt akin to those items it was selling.

An exercise in restraint.

Our catalog needed to feel at home with the Sotheby's and Christie’s of the world, but it also needed to let the artifacts be the hero—an intricate balance we were to achieve. When we first presented the concepts to Nathan and his wife Karen, the joy was palpable. Our goal, to create a print piece that showed off the items in a way that matched how they felt about them personally, was something they hadn’t achieved before—something that nearly brought them to tears. Furthermore, we went on to make this a collectors item in its own right, but one that could be sustainably used as a template for years to come.