June F1rst

From the 1930 Review of Revues, Diary Calendar brilliantly illustrated by Edward Bawden.
:: Another fine find from the Visual Telling of Stories.

1785 Illustrated Journal

The journal of George Davidson, Boston Massachusettes, 1785 to 1789. Davidson was a housepainter and an occasional artist who joined the second fur trade expedition to the Pacific Northwest with Captain Robert Gray in 1790. You can read more about the expedition and see another painting from that time at The Oregon History Project. See all of Davidson's journal in it's exquisite entirety at the Rare Book Room.

Ornamental Borders

Etchings on stone from 1898 by German artist Richard Janthur (1883 -1956). These are included in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection and it is unknown if they were ever used in a printed book.

Lessons in Reading & Writing

Chapter titles from the 1884 Monroe's First Reader.
:: From the Letterology Archives.

Damn Everything but the Book

Corita Kent, also known as Sister Corita Kent (1918-1986), was an artist, educator, designer, typographer, photographer and a Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Los Angeles where she ran the art department for many years. Since designing and printing her first poster in 1950, she helped to establish silkscreen as a fine art medium and had a tremendous influence on many designers over the years with her playful use of typography. Kent's colorful artwork reflected her spirituality, but her commitment to peace and social justice issues were often considered counterculture to mainstream political values in the 1960s. In 1968 she chose to leave the Order and moved to Boston where she remained active in social causes and making art. Over the course of her career, she produced over 400 silkscreens for posters, books, book covers, advertising and murals and her work was collected by many of the most famous art museums in the world, including the Victoria and Albert in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. 

In 1970, after Kent's move to Boston, she produced and designed her sixth book, Damn Everything but the Circus, an A B C book celebrating the 3-ring circus as a metaphor for life. I first discovered this book in the children's section of a bookstore years ago, but with the poetry, literary quotes and messages of deeper social concern it is far from a children's book—despite Kent's colorful, expressive artwork. I consider it a very important work in the development of modern book design in addition to marking a significant period of social unrest in our country at that time. I love her playful use of handwritten text combined with wooden type, old advertising cuts and colorful layouts. Even the endpapers which resemble a big-top tent with large black and white stripes provide an expression of things to come. My own book design students may even recognize Kent's book here as I often include it as an example of expressive typography when discussing frontmatter. Although their own personal book design projects tend to follow far more formal typographic conventions, I like to broaden their interests by introducing them to alternative styles now and then. Most of them have never heard of Sister Corita nor are they familiar with her work, but she was silkscreening and handlettering posters, and using wooden type long before they were born.

Below is a copy of Sister Corita's artful rules for work and life she posted at the art department of the Immaculate Heart College where she taught art for many years. Something for all of us to contemplate...

Medieval Snowplay

:: From Abbsworth via: Books and Buildings.

Morton Sundour Booklet

A wonderful booklet issued by Morton Sundour, a famous British dying and cloth company based in Carlisle and who were well-known for the quality of their publicity. This booklet was the text of a speech given by James Morton in Manchester in 1927 which was illustrated by Charles Paine (1895-1967), an artist who did many posters for clients such as London Transport. Beautifully printed by The Baynard Press in 1927. One of the nicest chapter openings I have seen in a while.
::Thanks to Mike Ashworth for sharing!

Color Secrets

A series of monographs on color published by the folks at The International Printing Ink Corporation. From Things Magazine.

A Heartwarming Work of Staggering Genius

I don't know what took me so long to come across this McSweeney's-at-a-glance video, but it is not-to-be-missed. Nor is the book, Art of McSweeney's from Chronicle Books, published as a retrospective to mark the 12th anniversary of McSweeney's. It chronicles the history and design of their beautiful books and journals, and you can find it at your favorite neighborhood bookstore if it still exists anymore. In addition to staff at McSweeney's, it is designed and edited mostly by Brian McMullen and Michelle Quint. Be sure to read Dave Eggers' Acknowledgements in the back where he provides some interesting production notes and pays credit to others involved in the design of this book. In case anyone is still wondering whether books are still on life support, this book should put those claims to rest.






From top down: Book cover spread | Dust jacket which is printed as poster on 2 sides | Several other McSweeney titles included | Interior page spread of McSweeny's 1 | Random inspiration on the shelves at McSweeney's Inc.

Leo Lionni on the Printed Page Design

Art director, magazine designer, sculptor, teacher, critic, painter, children's book author and illustrator Leo Lionni (1901-1999), left a remarkable legacy of celebrated work. As an entirely self-taught designer, he received many awards throughout his long career, including a 1955 Art Director of the Year from the National Society of Art Directors and numerous Caldecott Honors for his childrens' books. In 1974 he was included in the Art Director's Hall of Fame and received the AIGA Medalist award in 1984 in recognition for his distinguished career and exceptional achievement and contribution to the field of design. Early in his career as an advertising art director, he commissioned artwork from Saul Steinberg, Alexander Calder and a very young, Andy Warhol. It was in 1957 during his tenure as art director at Fortune magazine when he produced this promotion on design—his treatise on the immense variety and pliability of the language of design, and the power of the printed page to evoke a multitude of moods with ever unexpected means. Among his claims:

+ Variations within repeated symmetries add vitality.
+ Although one page is a full-color design and the other a two-color one, the effect is of a four-color spread.
+ Unexpected variations in a regular pattern, no matter how small, dominate the design and catch the eye.
+ Rhythmic repetition can make a relatively uninteresting form memorable.
+ Using the outer or inner edges of the paper, seems to make a spread look larger.
+ In competition with the customary complexitites of the advertising pages the courage to be simple is ofter rewarded.

Lionnis' claims are just as relevant today.
Special thanks to Kindraishere for the images. You can see more of the page spreads here.