ABOUT ME
‘The typography of books must not advertise. If it takes on elements of advertising graphics, it abuses the sanctity of the written word by coercing it to serve the vanity of a graphic artist incapable of discharging his duty as a mere lieutenant’
– Jan Tschichold
I am
Raphaël Freeman MISTD
I have over 30 years of experience in book design and typesetting, both in my own firms and at publishers including Koren, where I was responsible for typography and typesetting.
A member of the International Society of Typographic Designers, I apply my vast experience to ensure excellent quality of books of all kinds.
member
EDUCATION
I received my BSc (Hons) degree in Computer Science and Printing and Photographic Technology from Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University). My professional in-house training of typesetting and typography took place at Alpha Creative Solutions, Sale, Manchester.
WORK EXPERIENCE
I started my professional career working for Alpha Creative Solutions, a small typesetting firm in Sale, England. After moving to Israel, I worked for The Jerusalem Publishing House, then on to HaMakor Press, and finally moved on to a position as VP at The Jerusalem Post.
After moving forward again in my career, I launched my own firm, Jerusalem Typesetting, which ran for a successful six years before being bought by the renowned Koren Publishers. There I was in charge of typography, typesetting, and interior book design for the famed Koren line.
After my tenure at Koren, I relaunched as Renana Typesetting.
While employed at Koren Publishers, I developed the typography and interior design of the Koren Sacks Siddur. Read about the design decisions behind the bilingual prayer book →
I work with established publishers and first-time authors on English, Hebrew and multilingual books, with particular care for scholarly editions and Jewish texts. Publishers I have worked with include Koren Publishers Jerusalem, Gefen Publishing House, Rethink Press, Hebrew Union College Press, Jewish Publication Society (JPS) and Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (PIMS).
SKILLS
I specialise in typesetting multilingual books in Adobe InDesign, from English texts interspersed with Hebrew to Hebrew liturgical works with nikud and ta’amim. I also develop scripts and adapt fonts to meet the demands of complex projects.
Alongside book design and typesetting, I also offer technical proofreading, index preparation and bibliography preparation.
COMPUTER SETUP
By using high-end hardware and utilising the ultimate power of scripting, we are able to produce high-quality end results in a timely fashion.
PERIPHERALS
Apple Magic Keyboard
Logitech MX Master 4 Mouse
Apple Magic Trackpad 2
3 × Elgato Stream Decks
Elgato Stream Deck XL
Elgato Stream Deck Plus with the USB HUB
Elgato Stream Deck Neo
SonnetTech Thunderbolt Dual DisplayPort Adapter Dual 4K 60Hz Adapter
Elgato Key Light Air
Razer Seirēn X
Logitech MX Brio 4K webcam
Logitech MX Sound 2.0 Speakers
Canon Colour Laser printer MF645Cx
OTHER
iPad Air 5th gen with Apple Pencil 2
Belkin BOOST↑CHARGE™ PRO 3-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe 15W v2
HomePod mini
Herman Miller Aeron chair
CPU
Mac mini M4 Pro chip with 14‑core CPU, 20‑core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
64GB unified memory
4TB SSD storage
10 Gigabit Ethernet
SanDisk 8TB Extreme Portable SSD for Time Machine
DISPLAYS
Apple Pro XDR 32″ 6K
2× Dell U3219Q 31.5″ 4K