I look at Craig Lawrey with a touch of jealousy. He is a Navy Distinguished Marksman, an accomplished ocean-going Sailor, and a not-so accomplished Equestrian. He has been an Army Infantryman, Postman, Navy Reservist, and an Environmental Consultant. The hardest and most inspiring job he has ever had (his words) is being a Stay-at-Home Dad.

Craig is a client of ours who recently published a book titled Does Your Daughter Have Dad Hair? Working with Craig in designing his book was a blast. The first time we spoke on the phone, Craig told me he selected us to publish his book not just because we did great work, but because we were geographically desirable.

When we met, his point of view regarding his decision to hire us had shifted more to our design capability. Almost apologetically, he showed me his manuscript in Microsoft Word: "This isn't what I want my book to look like, but it's the best I can do." We chatted for a few moments so I could get a greater feel for my new client. He described his book in a flavor of Tool Time meets What Not to Wear.

As I outlined my design concepts, Craig's enthusiasm grew. I excused myself for a few moments and returned with a sheet of paper with four silver pieces adhered to one side. I spoke two words: duct tape.

Subtlety is more than attention to detail. Attention to detail is looking beyond the spell-check engine's declaration that 'where' and 'wear' or 'their' and 'there' are all spelled correctly, in spite of the fact only two of them are correct for any given situation. Subtlety is font choice, leading, page size and image tone. In the case of a presentation, subtlety includes slide builds, transitions, text sizing and line length.

My dad recently sent me an email telling the story of an F-16 pilot and his interaction with a C130.

"A C-130 was lumbering along when a cocky F-16 flashed by. The jet jockey decided to show off.

"The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, 'watch this!' and promptly went into a barrel roll followed by a steep climb. He then finished with a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier. The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought of that?

"The C-130 pilot said, 'That was impressive, but watch this!' The C-130 droned along for about 5 minutes and then the C-130 pilot came back on and said: 'What did you think of that?' Puzzled, the F-16 pilot asked, 'What the heck did you do?' The C-130 pilot chuckled. 'I stood up, stretched my legs, walked to the back, went to the bathroom, then got a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun.' "

While as a child my perspective of a “real” desert was a complex mix of reality and the shrouded truth of camera angles and a mistaken imagination. I thought a “real” desert should be like the nearly-lifeless, rolling sands of the Sahara as depicted by National Geographic or Tatooine. I thought a desert should be nothing but monotonous sand and sun. I did not see the beauty found in the rock-strewn Mountains and scrubby sage covered plains of the Mojave. In fact, the Mojave is considered one of the vastest and ecologically diverse deserts in the World. As an adult I have a greater appreciation for this diversity and majesty of the Mojave and its inhabitants.

Not only do I now see the Mojave as a real desert, but also I see how its topography and ecology make it perhaps the most interesting desert in the World.

As a publisher I see as much diversity among digitally produced coffee-table picture books as I do the World's deserts. We may call any photo or art book a coffee-table book, but do all such books offer the variety and depth as the Mojave?