Feast of Fools, 1969

July 28, 2010 | Filed Under Non-Fiction, Odd | 1 Comment

“A theological essay on festivity and fantasy.” Whoa.

Though it’s clearly of its time, it’s still a tight design, and the total package is quite well done. Jacket design by Gretchen Rosengren.

psychedelic design, 60s book cover, sixties jacket design

sixties graphics, overprint, 60s pattern, gretchen rosengren

psychedelic graphic design, harvey cox, dayglow book cover, fluorescent ink, 1969

Below: This is not some bit of RGB trickery: the end pages are crazy dayglow—hurts the eyes.

fluorescent ink sixties, 60s book design, gretchen rosengren, harvard books

The New Reformation? 1965

July 14, 2010 | Filed Under Non-Fiction, Odd | No Comments

The illustration style is classic 60s (signed “Light”?), but what really caught my eye was the color palette.

Crafts, 1980

May 1, 2010 | Filed Under Art, Non-Fiction, Odd | No Comments

Something a little different.

This book nicely captures what the 70s looked like to me. The glossy, casewrapped cover picks up the layout of the opening spreads for each chapter.

seventies crafts, 70s design, photographic book cover, craft, casewrap

seventies style, 70s craft and design, 1980 photography, graphic design 1970s

70s Type Reaches its Peak

April 15, 2010 | Filed Under Non-Fiction, Odd | No Comments

Yes, this is the same Xaviera that brought you Xaviera’s Supersex.

I’d trust her advice on the subject. I mean, her name is Xaviera.

This hot little number came in 1978.



Chess, 1973

April 12, 2010 | Filed Under Non-Fiction, Odd | No Comments

I don’t know if this originally had a jacket. If so, I can only assume was it was amazing, based on the amazing end-pages and illustrations. And the type on the casewrap and inside is nice and funky, too.

Illustrations by Reynold Ruffins.



Beckett, 1973

April 2, 2010 | Filed Under Art, Non-Fiction, Odd | 8 Comments

I woulda guessed ’83, but this is ahead of it’s time. And there’s more info on the cover art than damn near every other book on here combined:

“The cover of this book is one of ten views of a kinetic painting, ‘Pyramid’, by Oliver Bevan. The painting is made of transparent materials which only assume colours when illuminated by polarized light. When the plane of polarization is rotated slowly (which happens mechanically in a box designed to display the painting) the colours pass through a recurring cycle of change. Ten points of that cycle have been recorded to provide covers for the third set of ten volumes.”

That means I gotta find 9 more books…

oliver bevan painting, polarized light, Pyramid, fontana publishers, 1973, 70s painting, seventies graphic book covers, a. alvarez, beckett, abstract book cover

Die Rätsel des Bermuda-Dreicks sind gelöst!

March 3, 2010 | Filed Under Non-Fiction, Odd | 2 Comments

Something a little different. German version of 1975’s “The Bermuda Triangle Mystery–Solved.”

Umschlagbild (cover image) by Ulf Herholz. Umschlagtypographie (cover typography) by Manfred Waller. 1980.

Danish Bacon Cookery

February 11, 2010 | Filed Under Odd | 2 Comments

Forgive the abrupt change in direction. Wanted to make sure the type wasn’t upside-down.

Not sure what year this was, but it was definitely post-1957 (when Univers was released). Designed by the Fleetway Creative Group. Photography by the Fleetway Studio. Recipe testing and preparation in the Fleetway Kitchen. Published by Danish Agricultural Producers Information Service on behalf of Danish Bacon Factories Export Association. Awesome.



From the US Government Printing Office

December 15, 2009 | Filed Under Non-Fiction, Odd | 4 Comments

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

Aluminum in Modern Architecture, 1956

September 23, 2009 | Filed Under Architecture, Odd | 3 Comments

From guest contributor, Sam Grawe comes this rare gem put together by the Reynolds Company. Crazy slipcase and stamped cloth casewraps. So good.

According to the last page: “Design by the Styling and Design Department. Reynolds Metal Company.”

aluminum, modern architecture, mid-century, mod, foil, foil-stamped, casewrap, 50s design, fifties book cover, slip case, rare

aluminum-in-modern-architecture-4

aluminum-in-modern-architecture-6

aluminum-in-modern-architecture-5

aluminum-in-modern-architecture-1

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