On one of my resent second hand bookshop trawls I stumbled on these two delightful book jackets …
The above, from 1963, was designed and
photographed by Larry Carter and featured in the very first D&AD annual. I
love the fact that it uses just in one colour and utilitarian typogrphy. Carter makes the maximum from
the production restrictions. The image, using macro photography, gives a wonderful
graphic feel and reminds me of the opening titles of To Kill a Mockingbird
released in 1962 and influenced many graphic designers at the time…
Above Stephen Frankfurt's ground breaking film titles.
The other cover is by Nicholas Thirkell, my
one time business partner at CDT.
Designed in 1967 when he was at McMillan publishers as Art Director. Printed on coloured cartridge paper it created a facsimile
of a railway ticket, complete with punched hole and print on the reverse side.
So few
covers have this sort of inventiveness these days.