Blog: Design history
14 September 2021
Always drawn, never written
This unusual biography of book designer Helmut Salden (1910-96) shows the processes behind his lettering for dust jackets. By Jan Middendorp
Helmut Salden (1910-96) was the most productive book cover designer in the Netherlands, during the…
8 September 2021
Year of the pictograms
‘Tokyo 1964’ demonstrates the lasting influence of that year’s games on design for the Olympics
As this year’s Tokyo Olympic Games were nearing their end, an exhibition exploring the legacy…
27 August 2021
Books received #46
Dosłownie by Janusz Górski; Eco Worrier by James Marsh; Data Justice and COVID-19: Global Perspectives
There are three titles that caught our attention in recent months. The book Dosłownie. Liternicze…
9 August 2021
A new space for illustration
archive, quentin blake
A derelict waterworks site in London’s Clerkenwell will become the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration, the world’s largest public arts space dedicated to ‘art with a job to do’. By Clare Walters
In two years’ time† London’s re-named House of Illustration (formerly based in Granary Square, King’s…
9 July 2021
Beyond The Bell Jar
Shirley Tucker’s book cover designs, made during her long career with Faber, show a sure command of image, lettering and typography.
By Ruth Sykes
Book cover designer Shirley Tucker (b. 1930) is known for her iconic jacket for Sylvia…
10 June 2021
Brazilian type bonanza
Lazy Dog Press aims to crowdfund an English-language anthology of Tupigrafia, founded in São Paulo by Claudio Rocha and Tony de Marco
Few type mags have had a lifespan of more than two decades, but the Portuguese-language…
3 June 2021
Come to the Eye 101 launch
Please join Anette Lenz, Mario Eskenazi, Jim Sutherland & Elizabeth Resnick next Tuesday 8 June to celebrate Eye’s latest issue
The next Type Tuesday is a virtual launch party, designed to celebrate the publication of…
25 May 2021
The clarity of the innocent eye
ken garland
In this previously unpublished essay from 2003, Ken Garland (who died last week) urges designers to be ‘alert’. In an afterword, Andrew Howard explains the context
I’ve been working as a graphic designer for 50 years, first as an art director…
29 March 2021
Books received #44
Africa State of Mind; The Paper by Christoph Niemann; Modern Heraldry; and Abbatt Toys, Modern Toys for Modern Children.
Time to shine a light on some fascinating books about design and visual culture that…
17 December 2020
Waves of popularity
Graphic Design plays a key role in the re-emergence of Britain’s much-loved coastal resorts. The seventh and final instalment of Justin Burns’s series about seaside graphic design
The tide comes in. The tide goes out. The seaside is, by its very nature…