The Trouble Maker by Mark L. Clifford

For Clifford’s biography of Jimmy Lai, I wanted the interior design to feel bold, direct, and a little gritty, while still giving the text the weight of serious history.

The title page features a heavy, condensed sans serif in tight all caps, paired with a simple italic serif subtitle. The display face becomes a recurring element throughout the book, appearing in the author’s name and again with the chapter openers, where it sits beneath an italic chapter number and leads into a large drop cap.

The text pages use a clean, readable serif with running heads that alternate between the author and the title. The photo inserts mix full-bleed and inset images with short italic-led captions, so they feel like a natural extension of the story.

The overall design combines newspaper-style punch with a restrained, classic look that reflects the book’s themes of defiance, faith, and speaking out against power.

• Published: December 3, 2024

• Length: 304 pages

• Publisher: Free Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster

• ISBN: 978-1-6680-2769-1

• Interior designer: Wendy Blum