On my ride I was thinking about the process for the Alvarez Guitars catalog:

I flew to St. Louis with the people from the graphic design shop creating the brochure. The art director and  I investigated the situation. Listened to the client’s requests and interviewed a dozen people.

Then I came up with a plan for organizing the 36-page catalog. I’d interviewed several luthiers, the ones who opened cases of imported guitars and examined each one and tuned it and adjusted it to ensure its playability.

I suggested having the brochure narrated by a surrogate luthier, a composite, explaining how to judge a guitar. What to look for when buying a guitar. The client was enthusiastic about that idea and gave me a name for the composite narrator, which was some kind of inside joke to them.

     The catalog underwent many printings over the years and became a textbook for new music-store employees around the nation.