Today, a second helping of the AP2 Artists Partners book. (Is it a brochure? a catalogue? I’m not entirely sure how to address it).
I ran through a few of the obvious highlights by the big names like Hans Unger, Saul Bass and Tom Eckersley last time, but there are plenty more treasures for your entertainment.
In fact, the sheer quantity of other stuff is one of the notable things about the book. Most of what would now be seen as the big names are in the creative design section, but there are six other categories in the book, including realistic figure, humour and whimsy (section cover by Reginald Mount)
fashion and sophistication, photography ( a wonderful graphic by Heinz Kurth)
scraperboard, still life and industrial,
and finally architecture, landscape and nature.
It’s a reminder, once again, how easy it is to recreate the past in terms of what we like best now. For every classic bit of graphics, one equal and opposite bit of kitsch was created (although this is not just any old figure illustration kitsch, it’s Artist Partners kitsch by Rix).
Good to know that about the dripping, too.
But that’s not to say that there aren’t some stylish things in the other categories too, such as this Christmas card for ABC Television, by Bruce Petty.
Or once again, Patrick Tilley, this time with a cover for a Shell almanac, filed under Humour and Whimsy. No one would ever admit to doing whimsy any more, would they, it’s hardly cool; I think that’s rather a shame.
Patrick Tilley is, incidentally, not only still alive but has spent the last forty years working as a scriptwriter and science-fiction novelist, rather than as a designer. Perhaps that’s why his work has rather disappeared off the radar, despite being really rather good. (And he’s got in touch with the blog too, which is very exciting, so there may well be some more of his work on show here in due course).
Almost as strange as that career change are these two window displays by George Him, for De Bejenkorf (which seems to be a department store in Amsterdam). The first one in particular, looks almost impossibly modern.
The second is just brilliantly odd.
More of this kind of thing please.
Even all this hasn’t exhausted the almost bottomless reserves of this book. So, next time the scanner and I get some quality time together, there will further delights to come.
Hello
The AP2 brochure is a sort of prospectus for the services provided by AP.
It provides an index of artists and designers and showcases their work.
Presumably, these were handed out by the artists, and by AP themselves, to
get business.
Tilley was rather good, I think.
P
Have you ever seen AP1? I’ve only seen AP2 – and are there any more?
Agree with you about Patrick Tilley, the more I see of his work, the more I like it. Interestingly, the Sunday Times images I posted last time are being picked up quite a bit by designers on other blogs.
Love it!
That first Bijnekorf design is indeed impossibly modern – I love it. You are also correct that de Bijenkorf is an Amsterdam department store – also a going concern.