800 Traction Avenue is a building designed by architect John Parkinson in 1939 located in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles. This book serves as a historical artifact and time stamp that concretes the remnants of John Parkinson’s contribution to the city of Los Angeles. From the prologue by John Zabawa:
This story began with an assignment to document the current state of the Joannes Brothers building at 800 Traction Avenue located in DTLA’s Arts District. What we walked away with is a greater understanding of how buildings and architecture can shape culture within a neighborhood.
Our approach into typography was to utilize a single weight to be used across the entirety of our book design. We selected Suisse Int’l Regular by Swiss Typefaces as our primary typeface. This typeface is featured on the cover, spine, chapter pages, body copy and image captions.
Creative direction by New Ways
Produced and printed by Equator Books
Photography by Matt Correia
Prologue by John Zabawa
Epilogue by Eva Hagberg
Edited by Hanna Snyder
Historical images courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library
Photography by Jordan Vouga of New Ways
