Daily Book Graphics #69 / A Manual for Writers

I like this cover a lot, but the overwhelming feeling I have when I look at it is relief. I'm so thankful that I didn't go to college when those were the tools of writing.

Daily Book Graphics #68 / The Computer Revolution

The graphics below are from The Computer Revolution by Nigel Hawkes, published in the U.K. in 1971. The book provides an overview of what computers are capable of and what they will do in the future. The first line of the back cover blurb reads: "The computer revolution has already happened, and much of America runs on computers, for better or worse." Previous DBG posts on the past futures of computers here and here.

Jumbo jet drawn by a computer controlled plotter

Computer generated art

Imagining the Blackberry in 1971

It is interesting to read (click to enlarge) this chart that estimates when computers will start performing certain functions. The author mostly overestimates how quickly things will happen, and, of course, fails to imagine anything like the internet. One that he gets almost exactly right is the last entry that predicts that starting in the mid 1990s we will have "Remote facsimilie newspapers and magazines printed at home." Predicting the future is a difficult business, when CDs first came out in the mid 1980's I remember trying to imagine what might come after CDs. The only thing my pre-teen mind could come up with was a much smaller CD.

Daily Book Graphics #67 / The Philosophy of Symbolic Forms

I admire this kind of disciplined serial graphic design. My one criticism of this design is that it makes Ernst Cassirer's forehead look enormous. Maybe in the field of philosophy that's a plus. ©1965, no design or photo credit

A Minor Coincidence

I must be on the right art world wavelength or something, because I just picked up the latest issue of Frieze and the image on the cover is one that I featured in Daily Book Graphics #26. It's Keith Arnatt's Trouser-Word Piece from 1972. More about Arnatt here.

These were the images I posted in DBG #26

Daily Book Graphics #66 / Fungus

Mushrooms (and fungus in general) are interesting in many strange ways, I often think I should try to learn more about them.

I blogged about this large Puffball here.

Daily Book Graphics #65 / Wad-ja-get?

From 1971, no design or illustration credit found.

Daily Book Graphics #64 / Electronics

Graphics from my newly acquired Grosset All-Color Guide: Electronics (©1970)

Daily Book Graphics #63 / Grafilm

This is another book from my parent's shelves. The book is all about the then (1970), emerging artistic practice of making films by (among other things) drawing on the film stock itself. The term Grafilm is meant to differentiate a graphic film from a photographic or traditionally animated film.

Daily Book Graphics #62 / Life

This book is a thrift store find. It is about some pseudo scientific hypnosis study about reincarnation (although they seem to avoid that word). I'm totally against this kind of bunk, but I do like the cover. Published: 1979.

Daily Book Graphics #61 / Modern Railways

I recently found this book from the Macmillan Color Series, I previously posted from Aquarium Fishes in Color back in DBG #2. Railways of the Modern Age Since 1963 (©1975) by O.S. Nock (what a great name!), is a beautiful book, I don't have any particular interest in trains but these illustrations make me think that maybe I should. I'm going to try to track down more books from this series.

Daily Book Graphics #60 / Your Wonderful Body

These illustrations are from Your Wonderful Body: A Follett Beginning Science Book by Robert J.R. Follett with illustrations by Robert Frankenberg, ©1961. I bought several books from this series at the Goodwill over the weekend, this one is fairly creepy. I've chosen to focus on the head here because I felt the illustrations were the best designed of the lot.

Daily Book Graphics #58 / The DVD of the 1960's

In the days before VHS and DVD the only way to revisit a film you had seen was to buy a book of the script with pictures. L'avventura was published in 1969, the film came out in 1960, I am Curious (Yellow), was 1968, the film was released in 1967. I haven't seen L'avventura, but I recently watched I am Curious. It is interesting as a piece of unorthodox filmmaking and as a document of Swedish culture on the cusp of change. It was very controversial at the time for the sexual content, of course by 2009 standards it seems pretty tame. In 1970 the film was the subject of an obscenity case in Massachusetts that went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was ultimately deemed to not be obscene.

I love this logo for Evergreen Black Cat Books from the L'avventura cover. Both books were published by Evergreen, an imprint of Grove Press

Daily Book Graphics #58 / Understanding Media

This is another great Rudolph de Harak cover. I previously posted his work in DBG #3 and DBG #9. ©1964

Thrift Store Negatives

I bought a small metal drawer set earlier today at a Goodwill store. I ended up finding some loose negatives behind the drawers. I immediately put them into to my slide scanner and found the following images of a kid ollieing off of steps and walls. I'm not sure how old the images are but they are probably from over 10 years ago. I love the intensity of the reds and yellows.

This is the most interesting one, click to enlarge

Daily Book Graphics #57 / Modern Ordbok

More Swedish/English (and English/Swedish) ordbok covers (see DBG #49 for another one). They were originally published in 1964 but these are from the seventh printing in 1971. The illustrations look very 1964.

Daily Book Graphics #56 / Rendezvous in Dortmund

I recently found this booklet about Dortmund, Germany at my parent's house. It was published in the early 1980's to promote the city's potential as a business center. Dortmund is Buffalo's German sister city, which has something to do with my memory of a large mustachioed German man sitting at our dinner table at some point in the mid 80's. I assume he brought this booklet with him. "Dortmund has got what's required" is the most brilliantly efficient civic slogan I have ever heard.