From the US Government Printing Office
December 15, 2009 | Filed Under Non-Fiction, Odd | 4 CommentsAn unexpectedly beautiful hardcover called “Insects.” It’s actually the “Yearbook of Agriculture” for 1952. They still do nice books like this?
An unexpectedly beautiful hardcover called “Insects.” It’s actually the “Yearbook of Agriculture” for 1952. They still do nice books like this?
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I have a real soft spot for books printed directly on the cover like this. The design on this one is just great! I bet nothing this stylish has come out of a government printing office in a while.
Comment by Emily — December 16, 2009 #
Yeah, I should’ve noted that. It’s printed on this sort of “synthetic” cloth-type stock. At first I thought it was stamped, but it’s printed. That’s why the overprinting is so nice…
Comment by Shawn — December 16, 2009 #
I used to work in gov docs in a university library, and it was FULL of amazing, hilarious, and/or beautiful books and other publications. The USDA Yearbooks of Ag from the ’30s-60s are all very striking, but they are hardly the only ones with great designs. And of course everything from the 19th century is really eye-popping…
Comment by Joe — December 17, 2009 #
So many designers are trying to copy this look (especially with MadMen among us), but the beautiful thing here is the simplicity, the balance and contrast and the beautiful harmony of the printing process aligned with the design. Great find.
Comment by Gene — December 21, 2009 #