Graphic Journey Blog

Things I like...

Poster for Robert Fraser Gallery 1963, by Robert Brownjohn. Startling and brave at the time.

Things I like..

So simple. So perfect.

Alan Fletcher 1963. Say no more.

Things I like...

I'm always on the lookout, anywhere and everywhere - like a visual Hoover. All these things get stored away. So I am going to feature some random graphics that I have stumbled across and like. This book jacket for example, designed in 1961, (yes over 50 years ago ) has a lovely graphic naivety that I just love.

Me, me, me

If you’re interested to read a little more about me (yawn), I'm over at Michael Johnson's illustrious blog taking part in his jolly 'Second Thoughts' series. You can see it here. , and learn why this funny old spread from a 1950s encyclopedia is so important to me...

Justin Todd: Glorious obsession

Back in the late 1960s, I found myself working in publishing. Nestled in a small office at the very top of a building on Queen Street, Mayfair, I was installed as the art director of William Heinemann at the tender age of 24.
 
For me, it was the beginning of a wonderful decade of education. I came into contact with not only some of the world’s greatest authors but also many of the best designers, photographers and illustrators working at that time. One of these was an illustrator who visited me to show his work. His name was Justin Todd and I was instantly smitten by the sheer originality and quality of his approach to illustration.

 
Book jacket for a Georgette Heyer novel around 1972

Following that meeting, he was constantly on my radar and became a regular collaborator on many of the book covers that I was responsible for, both at Heinemann and a little later when I moved onto William Collins’ Fontana Paperbacks in the mid-1970s.
 
At my original meeting with Todd, he left me a copy of a calendar that he’d illustrated for Midland Bank. Now, 44 years later, I still have it. The quality of that work still moves me…

 Lombard Merchants for Midland Bank 1970

My admiration for Todd was such that I edited and designed a large format illustrated paperback of his work, published by Fontana in 1978. Here it is:

Todd worked (and I’m sure still does) in a painstakingly laborious way, using gouache paint and a collection of extremely fine brushes. He slowly works from one side of his watercolour paper to the other within a predetermined grid in which he has meticulously planned his image.

Todd at work sandwiched between two anglepoise lamps. 1978

Each illustration takes many, many days, if not weeks, to produce and must have taken its toll on Todd’s eyesight. But he has been labouring away now for almost 6 decades and his later, exemplary illustrated bookwork earned him many awards and much praise.

The Wind in the Willows 1987

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1996

The Wind in the Willows 1987 

Throughout his working career he also taught illustration. A large part of this was spent at the Brighton School of Art, where he encouraged and guided hundreds of students; I’m sure many are now flourishing as illustrators themselves. They owe a great debt to Todd’s dedication and enthusiasm.

Cover for The Journey East 1972

Cover for Tolkien's World 1975

Trial painting for The Legend of Tetuna 1977

Cover for Good News in Letters of Paul 1975

Christmas Witch card for the V&A

I have enormous admiration for any individual who spends their life adding nourishment to our world by creating things of beauty. They rarely earn a fortune for their labours, unlike those in the world of banking or equity management who give nothing and take everything. It is so unfair.
 
Justin Todd is a hero in my view, with a body of mind-bogglingly beautiful work that shines far brighter than any gold ingot.

Now in his 80s, long may he continue.

Lest We Forget