A colleague, Peter Bainbrigge, who is a passionate James Bond fan has been kindly lending me his 1960s British Pan editions of Ian Fleming’s novels.
While the sexism and racism are from a different age, other aspects of the books are surprisingly contemporary, especially the obsession with luxury brands. They’re great reads and the cover designs from the early 1960s are superb.
Visit MI6
Alki1, a member of the photo-sharing website Flickr, has assembled a rich depository of twentieth century typography and graphic design.
Adelaide graphic designer Sue Dyer sent me a wonderful Christmas present. It’s a beautiful book called Words Fail Me that’s written and designed by Teresa Monachino and published by employer-of-my-dreams Phaidon.
Teresa uses simple, clever typography to illustrate the contradictory and inconsistent nature of the English language, from our homonyms and heteronyms to what she calls ‘antigrams’ like the word ‘believe’ which contains the word ‘lie’.
While the book covers similar ground as the popular grammar books that appeared in the wake of Lynne Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves, there is something about the feel and packaging that is immensely satisfying. It’s also a homage to one of the world’s most popular typefaces, Gill Sans and it appeals to me in the same way as Paul Arden’s books. Thank you Sue.
