Beating Time

The design brief for this project was to create a book for the first major study of the Irish bodhrán. An important aspect of this was to transform a dense and complex written manuscript into an accessible and visually compelling publication for a general audience. The author Fintan Vallely and Publishers Cork University Press demanded a high-quality work that would sit confidently within Cork University Press’s esteemed collection, attract retail attention, and faithfully convey the instrument’s nuanced history—from its agricultural origins to its place as a modern musical icon.

The cover design concept set out to bridge past and present and encapsulate the book's theme: the design brings together an image of sculptor Barry Flanagan’s modern bronze hare (The Drummer from the IMMA Collection) to represent the instrument's vibrant present, and a page crop from the 'Rosa Anglica' manuscript which had the first ever reference to the Bodhran, representing its deep, traceable history. This visual metaphor of old and new is layed out with the book's colour palette and type style. 

The design concept for the book body, responded with a rigorous grid system and typographic hierarchy that balanced authoritative text with the abundant visual imagery; historic photographs, manuscripts, and commissioned portraits to ensure a rich, engaging, and credible narrative flow. The aim was to accommodate the diverse visual material without clutter, ensuring each image is treated with importance and given precise credits.

The book design resolution is a sophisticated and robust volume that balances scholarly gravitas with visual storytelling. The key feature is the harmonious duality established between type and image. The primary typeface, Baskerville, was chosen for its historical elegance and readability, suiting the authoritative text. This is complemented by the modern, versatile sans-serif Aestetico for captions and ancillary information, creating the book's typographic hierarchy. 

A further significant design challenge wass the extensive and meticulous curation of imagery which formed a key part of the design brief. The design integrates over 200 images—from archival manuscripts and historical photos to contemporary portraits by photographers; Jacques Piraprez Nutan and James Fraher—weaving them seamlessly into the narrative. 

Executed to the exacting standards of printers Gutenberg Press in Malta, the book’s quality is enhanced by a high-quality image reproduction, and robust binding. The design set out to organise a vast amount of content into a logical, compelling journey, fulfilling the brief to create a definitive and beautiful volume that appeals to both academia and the general public.

As author Fintan Vallely states in the books acknowledgements; "in order to contemporise the writing, and to highlight the drum’s modernity as an instrument and to aid comprehension and appreciation of the vast collection of imagery as well as the huge amount of data in the pages, the book's design elevates the overall study to a high pedestal of artistic presentation".

Beating Time, the Story of the irish Bodhrán was Launched at the National Museum of Ireland and at the Willie Clancy Festival, Miltown Malbay in July 2025.

Number of Pages: 368

Page Size: 215(w)mm x 265(H)mm

Printing: Full colour process lithographic

Binding: Library Bound with Block foil and wrapping dust jacket