Of all the illustrators you’d find in a mid-century public library (in my mind, there’s a formica desk, a lightly medicinal scent of polish from a parquet floor, heavy swing doors with perfect geometry and wired glass, perhaps a square of orange carpet and a few teak chairs with brown hessian covering) Charles Keeping would … Continue reading Portals in public places: Charles Keeping and Tibor Reich
I’ve posted a few H E Bates covers before, but just to say again, I’ve no idea why he isn’t more appreciated these days. My own feeling is that he was too prolific and easily able to turn his hand to many genres, and much of his work was eclipsed by the Darling Buds of … Continue reading Writers in covers: H E Bates
Yet more mid-century fonts, layouts and illustration from Abbey Mills, North Wales In the 21st century, anyone designing text and graphics has an infinite palette of colours and effects to throw at a design, and we can see the results vomited on street signs and shop fronts in all our towns. They’re not street signage … Continue reading Printer’s specimen book 1958, Pt.3
More mid-century fonts, layouts and illustration from Abbey Mills, North Wales All these images are a reminder of how much has been lost in the age of digital printing: a traditional printer was a true craftsman, custodian of skills passed through generations and now lost forever. Of course letterpress lives on as a niche artisan … Continue reading Printers’ specimen book 1958, Pt.2
Mid-century fonts, layouts and illustration from Abbey Mills, North Wales Featuring papers with names like Glastonbury Coloured Antique Laid, Basingwerk Parchment, Chariot Cartridge and British Oak Parchment this is a gorgeous volume. The production values are incredible, arresting the senses at every level, and even now the scent of musty forest hangs among its leaves. … Continue reading Printers’ specimen book, 1958, Pt. 1
The jury is out these days on D H Lawrence, and yet he was as much a part of the Swinging Sixties as Mary Quant or Christine Keeler, and it’s quite entertaining to see them in the same sentence. Rightly so it would seem, as there are those who think the trial over the publication … Continue reading Writers in covers: D H Lawrence
WHISTLES IN THE WIND 