Gary Head

The 1999 Distinguished Service Award is presented to Gary Head. With his designer's vision and photographer's eye, Gary has contributed his talents and time to Bookbuilders West for more than 25 years. Combining his design skills with technological advances, Gary transformed the slide presentation of the BBW Book Show, and his role as official "unofficial" BBW photographer is hereby acknowledged with delight and appreciation.

Gary received his BFA in advertising design from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1965. He then started his publishing career by designing a monthly magazine while serving in the U.S. Navy. After leaving the Navy, Gary worked at Wadsworth Publishing Company from 1969 to 1976 as a textbook designer and assistant art director. After a year with the Publications Office of the University of California at Berkeley, Gary moved to W. H. Freeman and Company as art director in 1977. When W. H. Freeman moved to New York in 1983, Gary opened his own design studio in Palo Alto. In 1984 he purchased a state-of-the-art Macintosh 512. The tools were still pretty shaky and the technology not quite there when he first used it for design and page make-up.

In 1991, Gary and Pat Waldo teamed up to form Publishing Principals Inc., specializing in designing and producing complex textbooks using desktop publishing technology. Gary and Pat created pages for a 1,200-plus page, four- color, biology text in QuarkXPress 3.1 and delivered files to be imaged to film in 1993. Gary was one of the people to call when your machine did something strange - he could either explain it or talk you through a work-around. During the "early years," he helped many of us when the deadline was imminent and the computer crashed.

Gary's involvement with Bookbuilders West began when he took all the photos for the Book Show Catalog in 1973, and he has been taking the judges' photos and been active in the Book Show practically every year since. He has designed the Catalog twice, been on the Book Show Committee numerous times, and served as a Book Show judge in 1984. From his judge's comments: "It seemed appropriate that the weather during the judging week went through several drastic changes - from bright calm sunshine to windy dark storm. This same variety was also evident in the books. My least favorite books had an overall gray bleakness to them."

In 1991, Gary and Detta Penna chaired the Book Show and revolutionized the awards presentation with a multiple-screen slide presentation. Gary used PowerPoint to create slides of contributors for each award-winning book and created slides of the interiors of the titles as well as the traditional cover image. His reward for doing such a great job was the opportunity to do it again for the next several Book Shows. Gary was also co-director of production for the BBW CD-ROM produced by Detta Penna and Jamie Sue Brooks for the 1994 Book Show. He has been a contributor at several Bookbuilders West Crash Courses and seminars. He has won design awards from Bookbuilders West, AIGA, Western Art Directors Club, and the Chicago Book Clinic. He also designed the original DSA plaque in 1983 and has been responsible for coordinating its production every year since.

Gary has been the BBW Newsletter photographer since 1987, taking the candid shots at the Book Show for the Book Show issue, taking photos at dinner meetings, seminars, and wrap-up events. He was official photographer for PubForum '87, the BBW expo/seminar event held at Fort Mason in 1987. Gary also served on the BBW Board of Directors from 1979 to 1982.

Thanks, Gary, for your many contributions - aesthetically, BBW is a better organization because of your efforts! You brought a professional look to the Book Show slide program, and you have made us all appear more photogenic. Your gracious willingness to help, even when given little notice, is enormously appreciated.