| BOOKS I HELPED MAKE
One Nation, Extra Cheese: Your Guide to the Bestest Country Ever
Based on the popular "Foreigner's Guide to America" feature that appeared on Rotodesign back in '97 or so, this book can now be found on remainder tables throughout this great land.
Rough Draft: Pop Culture the Way It Almost Was
I designed this book, which is an actual full-color trade paperback from a reputable publisher! Now it has been remaindered, so maybe you can get one for cheap. Get a copy for every member of your family, unless you don't love them.
My First Presidentiary: A Scrapbook by George W. Bush
My contribution to this one extends pretty much just to the cover design and lettering. Oh, and those are my lovely hands peeking out of Dubya's sleeves. Yay, Photoshop!
ARCHITECTURE/FURNITURE
Car Hops and Curb Service : A History of American Drive-In Restaurants 1920-1960
by Jim Heimann
A photo history of the drive in. Lots of great neon drive in signage to gawk at, and a nice collection of old matchbook covers on the inside covers.
Robin and Lucienne Day: Pioneers of Modern Design
by Lesley Jackson
Contemporary: Architecture and Interiors of the 1950s
by Lesley Jackson
 Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture
by Alan Hess
A fabulous (and currently out of print) photo collection of the wild coffee shops of the 1950s. Most of these places are gone, which is too bad, because the signage and architecture look as modern today as they did all those years ago. Highly recommended.
Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture
by Alan Hess
An updated and expanded edition of the above book – amazing photos from a bygone era.
 Mid-Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s
Cool boomerang-shaped tables, Eames chairs, mobiles, Knoll sofas, the works. Great reference for 50s motifs.
Sixties Design
by Philippe Garner
One of the millions of color coffee table books by Taschen you see on the remainder table at your local bookstore. This one is a lovely photo collection of 60s design from hippie Op Art to space-age 2001 furniture.
PERIODICALS
Giant Robot
Well-written and designed magazine focusing on Asian pop culture.
Juxtapoz
"Low-brow" art mag featuring a lot of hackneyed old junk and a handful of impressive new artists.
Communication Arts
I used to work across the street from their old offices in Palo Alto, they had, like, a little castle on Sherman Avenue. They also put out a magazine.
Print
Pretty good design mag, though they should dump the annual student cover competition, where pages are wasted on amateur cover designs depicting two-button mice battling it out with Rapidographs and pencils (Get it? designers use computers now!).
Step Inside Design
Formerly Step-By-Step Graphics, much improved since its re-vamp.
How
Focused on the business end of the graphic design business. Lots of good info, but too many articles showing various firms' redesign of their offices.
I.D.
Not the U.K. fashion mag, but the American industrial design publication. Good writing and design.
Eye
Certainly one of the most expensive design periodicals. Occasionally worth it.
MOVIE BOOKS
The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
The Psychotronic Video Guide to Film
by Michael J. Weldon
A wonderful reference guide for the b-movie connoiseur. Packed with loads of great photos and b&w movie ads. I can't think of much they left out.
Film Posters of the 30s : The Essential Movies of the Decade
Film Posters of the 40s : The Essential Movies of the Decade
Film Posters of the 50s : The Essential Movies of the Decade
Film Posters of the 60s : The Essential Movies of the Decade
Film Posters of the 70s : The Essential Movies of the Decade
Film Posters of the 80s : The Essential Movies of the Decade
by Tony Nourmand, Graham Marsh
Very nice full-color reproductions of the best US and European movie poster art, both familiar and obscure.
Science Fiction Poster Art
by Tony Nourmand, Graham Marsh
Similar format to their above series, this time focused on Sci-Fi and monster movie art.
X-Rated: Adult Movie Posters of the 60s and 70s
by Tony Nourmand, Graham Marsh
A departure from their other movie books, this one is a smaller hardback format, and focuses on adult films, from '60s nudies to XXX porno.
Trash: The Graphic Genius of Xploitation Movie Posters
by Jacques Boyreau
Haphazard but appealing collection of posters from every genre of exploitation film.
Mental Hygiene
by Ken Smith
A humorous and fascinating look at industrial and educational films.
Cine Mexicano: Posters from the Golden Age 1936-1956
by Rogelio Agrasanchez
Beautifully illustrated Mexican film poster collection.
Clean Breast : The Life and Loves of Russ Meyer
Check the price on this! Damn!
Sleazoid Express: A Mind-Twisting Tour through the Grindhouse Cinema of Times Square
Vividly describes the pre-Disney Times Square grindhouse cinema experience.
Grindhouse : The Forbidden World of 'Adults Only' Cinema
by Eddie Muller, Daniel Faris
A history of exploitation cinema from the burlesque '30s to the porno '70s. Lots of great artwork and an amazing color poster section, too!
Immoral Tales : European Sex & Horror Movies 1956-1984
by Cathal Tohill, Pete Tombs
Lots of great horror and exploitation movie stills and posters from overseas. There're some words in there, too.
The I Was a Teenage Juvenile Delinquent Rock'N'Roll Horror Beach Party Movie Book : A Complete Guide to the Teen Exploitation Film, 1954-1969
by Alan Betrock
Cool fifties and sixties teen movie posters in glorious white and white.
What It Is... What It Was!
A great collection of 70's white exploitation movie posters, along with interviews with some of the best actors of the time.
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GRAPHIC ART & DESIGN
All-American Ads of the 30s
All-American Ads of the 40s
All-American Ads of the 50s
All-American Ads of the 60s
All-American Ads of the 70s
by Jim Heimann
Phone-book sized encyclopedias of lovingly-reproduced old ad imagery.
The Male Mystique: Men's Magazine Ads of the 1960s & '70s
by Jacques Boyreau
Suave and macho ads for booze, cigarettes and fashion.
Meet Mr. Product: The Art of the Advertising Character
by Warren Dotz, Masud Husain
A gallery of cartoon advertising mascots from Mr. Clean to Mr. Coffee Nerves!
Abram Games: His Life and Work
by Naomi Games, Catherine Moriarty and June Rose
Handsome collection of this WWII-era British designer & postermaker's work.
Krazy Kids’ Food!
by Dan Goodsell, Steve Roden
Fun collection of kids’ food packaging from the 50s-70s.
Industrial Strength Design: How Brooks Stevens Shaped Your World
by Glenn Adamson
40s & 50s industrial and graphic work from the designer of the Miller beer "bowtie" logo and the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.
American Modernism: Graphic Design, 1920-1960
by R. Roger Remington
An illustrated history of Modern design including such under-covered greats as Beall, Sutnar, Lustig, Thompson and more.
Hatch Show Print: The History of a Great American Poster Shop
Since 1879, Hatch has been pressing lovely letterpress posters from its home in Nashville. This book collects their posters for everyone from Elvis to Eisenhower.
Zero: Hans Schleger — A Life of Design
by Pat Schleger
Though Hans Schleger is perhaps not the best-known designer, his work for the London Underground is still imitated today.
Typographica
by Rick Poynor
A retrospective look at the respected avant-garde design publication.
Open Here: The Art of Instructional Design
by Paul Mijksenaar, Piet Westendorp
How-to diagrams dissected.
The Art of Graphic Design
by Bradbury Thompson
Thompson was a real innovator, and his experiments with printing technology and unicase typography are still fresh today. This book is pretty pricey, but well worth it.
Lester Beall: Trailblazer of American Graphic Design
by R. Roger Remington
Lester Beall isn't terribly well known today, and as far as I know, this is the only book about him in print. His poster, magazine and package design are all well-represented here.
 Some People Can’t Surf: The Graphic Design of Art Chantry
by Julie Lasky
Jam-packed with the influential design work of Mr. Art Chantry. An essential purchase for anyone interested in contemporary design and/or popular culture. Buy two.
Tibor Kalman, Perverse Optimist
The late Mr. Kalman was one of the few consistently interesting voices in graphic design. This book is a beautiful monograph of his work and ideas, and should be required reading for any design student.
Uncanny: The Art & Design of Shawn Wolfe
One of a handful of young designers whose work really impresses me. (And depresses me, it's so good).
Industrial Design
Raymond Loewy
Whether Raymond Loewy's work was really all Raymond Loewy's work has been disputed, but whoever did it, it's worth your attention. Everything from the contoured Coca-Cola bottle to the Avanti sports car came from Loewy's studio.
Paul Rand
by Steven Heller
Finally, a book about Mr. Rand not written by Rand himself. I'm not so much a fan of his later work (like the Enron logo), but his early stuff is pretty impressive.
Webworks Typography
Jason Mills, Daniel Donnelly
Hey, I'm in this book! What do you know. I had to pay for my copy, though, they don't send you a free one. You do get a nice form letter from the publisher offering you cut-price tear sheets.
Covering the ’60s: George Lois, the Esquire Era
by George Lois
Lois' covers for Esquire were some of the most striking and creative of their era. Just ask him!
American Metal Typefaces of the Twentieth Century
by Mac McGrew
Millions of weird fonts you've never seen before, from the days when type was set in hot metal slugs. Most fonts are shown with full alphabets. This is a great inspiration for anyone interested in font design.
Jan Tschichold : Typographer
by Ruari McLean
Hey, it's not all comics and b-movies here at Rotodesign. I check out the work of old-school designers, too. This is an interesting book as it chronicles the avant-garde works of Mr. Tschichold from the Bauhaus era, and follows him to commercial work and type design in the UK and US.
MISC
The Book of the Subgenius : Being the Divine Wisdom, Guidance, and Prophecy of J.R. 'Bob' Dobbs
by J. R. Dobbs, Inc. Subgenius Foundation
I'm not what you'd call a spiritual sort of fellow, but I recommend this book highly to all of you of a religious bent. This is the book that turned me weird in high school. Buy one before it's too late!
The Magic Christian
by Terry Southern
The best book of fiction in the whole wide world. Follow the sadistic exploits of millionaire Guy Grand. "One of the funniest, cruelest, most savagely revealing books ever written about the American way of life." --Nelson Algren
The Sponsored Life : Ads, Tv, and American Culture (Culture and the Moving Image)
by Leslie Savan
An entertaining and enlightening dissection of advertising culture.
 Commodify Your Dissent : Salvos from the Baffler
by Thomas Frank, Matt Weiland
An impressive collection of essays from The Baffler, worth it for Steve Albini's "The Trouble With Music" alone.
Mad About the Fifties : The Best of the Decade
Buy this book for a sampling of the genius of the Harvey Kurtzman-era Mad comics and the early ad parodies.
Will Elder: The Mad Playboy of Art
by Will Elder
A lavishly illustrated biography of the certifiably insane Mad Magazine/Little Annie Fanny illustrator.
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MUSIC BOOKS
Naked Vinyl
by Tim O'Brien & Mike Savage
If you like record covers and naked ladies, this is the book for you. A spicy collection of retro-exploitation LP cover art.
For The Record: The Life and Work of Alex Steinweiss
by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz and Alex Steinweiss
Beautiful illustrator LP cover artwork from the inventor of the cardboard record sleeve.
Vinyl Hayride: Country Music Album Covers, 1947-1989
by Paul Kingsbury
Crazy country LP covers from hillbilly kitsch to Nashville slick.
 Blue Note : The Album Cover Art
by Graham Marsh, Felix Cromey, Glyn Callingham
Reid Miles' suave album art for Blue Note records is ripped off all the time these days, but nobody does it like the master. Just owning this LP-sized book makes you feel sophisticated and smooth.
Blue Note 2
by Graham Marsh, Glyn Callingham
They used the best images for Volume 1, but there are still plenty of inspiring images in this second collection of Reid Miles' Blue Note covers.
Blue Note
by Graham Marsh, Glyn Callingham
Junior-size (but thick) collection of the best Blue Note sleeves.
In The Groove: Vintage Record Graphics, 1940-1960
by Eric Kohler
Nice collection of album art including favorites by Alex Steinweiss & Jim Flora.
The Album Cover Art of Soundtracks
by Frank Jastfelder, Stefan Kassel
Nice LP-sized book collection of soundtrack album covers arranged by theme. A lot of handsome examples of 1960s photo typesetting gimmickry. Recommended.
1000 Record Covers
by Michael Ochs
The CAT on a Hot Thin Groove
by Gene Deitch
Fab collection of jazzy cartoons and illustrations by Gene Deitch.
Album Covers from the Vinyl Junkyard
A truly bizarre collection of album covers from the US and UK. Unlike a lot of record cover art books, this one has a lot of really unusual and not traditionally well-designed covers inside. Lots of fun to look at, and a less revisionist history of album art than most books.
Fair Use : The Story of the Letter U & the Numeral 2
by Negativland
I recommend this book for anybody interested in copyright issues, as well as people already familiar with the band Negativland. Negativland were sued by U2 and by Casey Kasem for sampling them on record, and this book preserves every note, fax, article and piece of correspondence between Negativland, U2, Casey Kasem, SST Records and their respective lawyers. Essential reading.
Incredibly Strange Music Volume 1
Incredibly Strange Music Volume 2
by V. Vale, Andrea Juno
A highly entertaining read, and a good companion piece to the Vinyl Junkyard book above, these books feature lengthy interviews with musicians and collectors about their strange record collections. The books include discussions with such musical luminaries as Jello Biafra, Lux & Ivy from the Cramps, Martin Denny, Esquivel, Eartha Kitt and the Phantom Surfers, to name just a few. Lots of nice pictures, too.
Gulcher : Post-Rock Cultural Pluralism in America (1649-1993)
by Richard Meltzer, Lester Bangs
Most books on rock and roll are pretty terrible. This one is incredibly great, because it's only sort of about rock and roll. Commissioned by to write a rock book by Jann Wenner, Richard Meltzer instead wrote a collection of essays with titles like "The Wonderful World of Booze," "Luckies vs. Camels: Who Will Win?," "Smack Is Worse Than Downs," and "Neil Sedaka: Horseman of the Apocalypse." This book rocks more than most of the records in your collection.
 A Whore Just Like the Rest
Richard Meltzer
A collection of Richard Meltzer’s essays and reviews, entertainingly annotated. For a guy who doesn't like rock music, Meltzer writes pretty well about it.
EYE CANDY
Exotiquarium: Album Art from the Space Age
by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz, Lenny Dee
Hot Rod
David Perry
The Good Citizen's Handbook : A Guide to Proper Behavior
by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz
Yes You Can: Timeless Advice from Self-Help Experts
by Jennifer McKnight-Trontz
60S!
by John Javna, Gordon Javna
A quick look at the cultural detritus of the 1960s. Lots of pix of products and gimmicks long since forgotten.
Brightwork: Classic American Car Ornamentation
by Ken Steacy
Photos of Mr. Steacy’s extensive collection of hood ornaments and chrome emblems.
Kustom Kulture
by Von Dutch, Big Daddy Roth, Robt. Williams
An overview of the hot rod art and hot rod related art of these and other artistes.
 Batman Collected
by Chip Kidd, Geoff Spear
Lots of detailed photos of cheap plastic and paper Batman junk. Very nicely designed, not just for comics nerds.
Vintage Neon
by Len Davidson
A ton of photos of beautiful old neon signs.
May I Take Your Order? American Menu Design 1920-1960
by Jim Heimann
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