Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #129 / Dansk






I think this is a book to help Swedes learn Danish, I'll have to check in with my Swedish brother-in-law and update this post later. ©1973/ illustration: Willy Eriksson

UPDATE: My brother-in-law says it is a Danish for Foreigners book, not specifically for Swedes. It was printed in Sweden which is why I thought it might be for Swedes.

Daily Book Graphics #128 / Rockets & Missiles







Another from the Grosset All Color Series (See DBG#4, DBG#7, DBG#45, DBG#53, DBG#64, DBG#81). Published in 1970.

A Fatal Disk Error at Montague Projects

Yesterday morning at about 8 am my hard drive died. On restart I got the terrifying flashing question mark folder. I took my laptop out to the Apple store and they installed a new hard drive for $250. I was greatly relieved to get off that easy. Thankfully I have been using Time machine for the last 6 months, if this had happened before, when I was backing up every week or two I would have been screwed. In any case, I missed my Daily Book Graphics post yesterday, so today there will be two, but not until much later, I have a lot of other things to get done first.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #127 / Pocket Pal







The Pocket Pal was, and is "a handy book of graphic arts production" put out by the International Paper Company since 1934. These images are from the 12th edition which was published in 1979. I entered the graphic design field after a lot of the technology featured in this book was made obsolete by computers.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #126 / Animal Kingdom


This book appears to have first been published in Czechoslovakia in 1962 and translated for the British market in 1963. The cover is pretty threatening. Graphic Design: V.J. Stanek and Julius Hauf

Friday, June 26, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #125 / Body Language


This 1971 book is a classic of the sleazy pop psychology genre (there may be a more accurate term, I'm not sure).

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #123 / Fingerboard Charts



The above image and detail is the back cover of Play Guitar in Minutes with Stick-on Jiffy Chords, a color coded chord book from 1966. The front is not all that interesting design-wise, but there is something that grabs me about the back cover.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #122 / Colette

Gigi and The Cat by Colette, reprinted by Penguin classics in 2000. Photography: Mark Cocks/Millennium

Monday, June 22, 2009

Found Slides / Goodbye Kodachrome

About seven years ago I came across a large batch of slides at an Amvets thrift store. They were in nice metal slide boxes that I wanted for storing my own slides (until about three years ago artists were expected to send out images of their work on slides). I now use those boxes to store my spider vials. I took a quick look at some of the slides but I never really conducted a full inventory, I decided to pack them away and deal with them later. I came across the box of slides when we were cleaning the attic for a garage sale last week. I thought it might be interesting to post some of them on the blog.

It's depressing that these pictures would be donated to a thrift store. It's sad that nobody cared about them but I suppose it's worse to think that maybe anybody who would or should care is dead. But here they are, slivers of somebody's life launched into cyberspace. I'll be posting more from this collection soon.

Most of the pictures document social events, travel in the Northeast, and domestic scenes and settings. Some of them are quite well composed. They look to be from the late 1940s/early 1950s but maybe a reader who knows something about the history of clothes can pinpoint it more accurately. It's funny that just as I was getting ready to scan these Kodachrome negatives I hear the news that Kodak is discontinuing Kodachrome film.

Rainbow over an unidentified land

It's hard to see unless you click to enlarge it, but on the left side of the window there is the profile of a woman wearing glasses.


Unfortunately this one is badly out of focus, I like the composition.

twin marriage beds

Daily Book Graphics #121 / Spiders


I love the typography on the cover. Unfortunately the interior of the book is unexceptional. Published in 1974 by National Geographic. For my work on spiders go here.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #120 / Oiseax De L'Amerique Du Nord







This is the sort of booklet for children where the child pastes cards/stamps into designated blank spaces. According to the back cover the cards came in packages of Red Rose Tea, Coffee and Instant Coffee and Blue Ribbon Tea, Coffee and Instant Coffee. Lucky for me the young boy who had this booklet (Robert, his name is written on the inside cover) collected all of the cards. The booklet was published by the Canadian Audubon Society in 1962. Everything is in French and English.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Daily Book Graphics #119 / AIGA at 50


cover


Rudolph de Harak - I previously posted de Harak's work in DBG#3, DBG#9, DBG#58, DBG#71


Noel Martin - He just died in February


James Ward


The above images are from a book that the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) put out for its 50th anniversary in 1966. The book and exhibition is called Variations on a Theme: Fifty Years of Graphic Arts in America.