As a champion of graphic design history, I was thrilled to find the upcoming book "Penrose 1964-73: The Herbert Spencer Years," a captivating visual anthology dedicated to honouring Spencer's legacy as a trailblazer in modern typography. Spanning 288 pages, this book commemorates Spencer's influential editorship at the Penrose Annual from 1964 to 1973.
"Heart: Anatomy, Function, and Diseases" (Dell, 1962), by Rudolf Hoffmann and illustrated by George Giusti, demonstrates how illustrations effectively convey complex and emotional topics whilst providing valuable information.
Last month (March 2022), I spoke to over fifty Graphic Design undergraduates about the archive and my passion for design history, after which the students had full access to items in the collection and participated in discourse amongst their peers and lecturers. As part of their critical studies unit, the students will be producing essays and content related to the impact, history and aesthetics of selected artefacts.
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Paul Schuitema emerged as one of the Dutch pioneers of new typography. This article features a selection of the cover designs and a few inner spreads from my collected issues of De 8 en Opbouw.