Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

I know it’s out of vogue and a health no-no, but the images in “Rolling Paper Graphics” will make you long for the days when smoking was an accepted creative expression of a personal sense of style.

Page after page of little works of art that define a brand and attempt to crush the competition. (Mad Men would have a field day!) With such a small canvas, typography was used sparingly and intentionally to great effect.

The calligraphy reminds us that once upon a time letters were hand drawn pieces of art by their own right. Layouts vary from graphic simplicity to the spare no kitchen sink theory of advertising.

It’s an inspiring book with images from the exotic to the sublime. There is a brief history of the industry but the emphasis is really on the art and design, as it should be. These artists, long gone and unnamed, deserve our attention.
Rolling Paper Graphics
Author: José Lorente
Art director: Laura Meseguer
©2007 by Index Press, S.L.
Ginko Press, Inc.
Tags: mad men, rolling paper art
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