Stone is the latest in a series of books designed and edited by William Hall Work that focuses on the usage of a single material throughout architectural history. It follows a layout outlined by William in the previous publications, so the design challenges faced here were not about layout, but around research, image selection and negotiating successful compromises. We designed an image research process, and gradually gathered a significant number of projects for inclusion. We then went through a complex and collaborative process of negotiation in working out together which projects we thought were most beautiful, interesting, relevant or underrepresented. Once we had a rough idea of which projects were to be included, we then faced the second round of selection, deciding which photograph of each project would be best to use, and which other project they should be paired with on the spread to provide a compelling juxtaposition or synergy. While historic significance did influence our decisions, it was refreshing to be able to operate on a generally purely aesthetic basis, to create a book where the primary aim was visual impact.