A Legacy in a New Light

This one is a pretty special project, as the client is Alexis’ Dad. Veryl Oakland is a decorated jazz photographer who shot the jazz greats from the 1960’s through ‘80s – everyone from Miles Davis to Thelonious Monk, Sarah Vaughan to Chet Baker. 

The goal: publish a coffee table book to showcase nearly 400 of his photos alongside personal stories of the musicians he worked with. So we sourced a publisher, designed the book layout, and developed his brand across a website, socials, materials for gallery openings and bookstore events, and content for advertising. A true, collective labor of love for his life’s work.

After landing Schiffer Publishing we designed the cover and layout for the book, championing more of an art book style, with metallic effects as a visual surprise.

Aligned with the release of the book in 2018, we built a marketing campaign focused on galleries, music events, bookstores, schools, and radio stations, and created materials that worked cohesively with the brand we’d established.

The book was a hit: A silver in the 2018 Foreword Indies for the Performing Arts & Music category; the 2018 award from the Museum Store Association in the Books and Multimedia category. And his photographs continue to appear in museums like the National Museum of African American History and Culture and The Whitney.

Our current focus: Working with archivists from the University of Colorado American Music Research Center Archive to properly archive, catalog, and house his three decades of work, ensuring its longevity for years to come.