"Those he saw as "most successful" had a "bold typographic and/or illustrative treatment" which in turn "countered the dominance" of the branding strip that ran down the side. "This realisation led me to define some rules for the designs of the individual covers that tried to ensure that the covers would never feel overwhelmed by the branding system," says Pete. "The core rule was that the Editions would essentially be typographic covers, or typographically-led covers in terms of the hierarchy between type and image.""
"Another all encompassing ethos that Pete wanted to inject into the series was "a sense of craft" or, at the least "evidence of the human hand". The art director identifies Faber art director Berthold Wolpe - who was working at the mid-point of the 20th century - as a key influence. Many of his works featured hand-drawn lettering which, in Pete's words, had, "the effect of pulling the whole jacket together and making everything feel like a piece"."
Pete prioritized typographic hierarchy so covers would be typographically-led, with illustrative elements as secondary. He limited palettes to off-black and off-white with specified CMYK breakdowns, giving designers two colours usable in varying tones. Branding strips were required to contrast the main cover colour, chosen from four predetermined colours. He established rules to prevent covers being overwhelmed by the branding system. He aimed to inject a sense of craft and evidence of the human hand into the series. He cited Berthold Wolpe's hand-drawn lettering as an influence for pulling jackets together. Rachel Ingalls' Mrs Caliban exemplifies fluid, brush-like lettering reacting to a rigid branding bar.
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