Graphic design: visual comparisons, 1964 [Fletcher, Forbes, Gill]

Graphic design: visual comparisons by Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, Bob Gill, 1964. Published in Great Britain by Studio Vista Ltd and in the U.S. by Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York. 6.75 x 8, pp. 96. Printed in the Netherlands. 

A selection of advertising and graphic design from the 1950s–60s, curated by Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes and Bob Gill, founders of the London-based studio Fletcher/Forbes/Gill (later to become Pentagram). In the Introduction, they write “Our thesis is that any one visual problem has an infinite number of solutions; that many of them are valid; that solutions ought to derive from subject matter; that the designer should therefore have no preconceived graphic style.”

The imaginative selections often show contrasting or complementary solutions to similar problems, along with short commentary on ideas and methods. Includes work by prominent American and international designers such as George Lois, Robert Brownjohn, Bob Noorda, Chermayeff & Geismar, Bruno Munari, Saul Bass, Paul Rand, Gerstner + Kutter, Herb Lubalin, Total Design, Franco Grignani, Milton Glaser, George Tscherny and many more. Graphic design: visual comparisons is an insightful book on idea generation and creative practices.

This is a peculiar book. Originally softcover, this volume has been rebound (perhaps by the publisher) as a very good, sturdy hardcover with green covers and a gilt-lettered spine. The original cover is affixed to the front but the back cover has been removed. Interior pages are bright and well preserved.