Archive for December, 2009


The Language of Vision, 1951

Here’s something a little different (earlier than the books I normally feature.) A book that “deals with the present-day problems of visual expression” by the great artist/designer Gyorgy Kepes.

gyorgy kepes, 50s design, fifties art, book graphics, art book, hungarian designer, 1951 advertising design, visual expression, paul theobald and co


The No Plays of Japan

Nice and simple. But striking. I believe it was designed in 1957—which was when this edition was published, though this is the 7th printing.

Cover design by Roy Kuhlman.

no plays, japan, black and white, 1957, fifties design, sixties graphics, 60s book cover, abstract, japanese influenced


Reincarnation and Immortality, 1970

reincarnation-and-immortality-sm


Slow Burner, 1965

Truly bizarre color combo. But kinda cool. Designed by Martin Bassett.

brown, pink, lime green, 1965, 60s book design, sixties graphics, martin bassett, penguin crime, william haggard, slow burner, mystery,

BTW, just posted the grid for these cover designs over at Gridness.net. Here it is…

grid, 60s design, sixties book cover, romek marber, germano facetti, penguin by design, phil baines


George Berkeley, 1965/1980

11th printing, starting in ’65. Dunno if the cover was the same the whole time, but the inside looks ’65.

60s design, abstract graphics, sixties book cover, philosophy, george berkeley, library of liberal arts


Good Ol’ Mr. Rand

I’m not obsessed with Paul Rand as are many designers, but I do enjoy him as an illustrator. The Condemned of Altona, 1961.

condemned of altona, paul rand, 60s design, sixties illustration, jean paul sartre play, book cover design, 1961


An unexpectedly beautiful hardcover called “Insects.” It’s actually the “Yearbook of Agriculture” for 1952. They still do nice books like this?

insects, agriculture, 1952, 50s design, fifties graphics, us government printing office, yearboook

fifties book design, 50s graphics, government publications, butterflies, overprinting, surprint

insects-detail-sm

insects-spine-sm


Nice, holistic design.

60s design, overprint, brown and blue, dots, sixties graphics

teggart, uc press, 1960s book cover design


I wonder: how did they go about drawing such a tight, crisp image in 1969?

Cover design by Toshihiro Katayama.

toshihiro katayama, op art, 60s graphics, sixties book cover design, mit press, donald mckay, abstract, overlapping concentric circles.


Back to top