Covers from the Herb Lubalin Center collection

Cover of the “Corneille-landmeter” exhibition catalog from the Stedelijk Museum, designed by Wim Crouwel, Total Design, 1966

Cover of the “Gedrukt in Japan” exhibition catalog from the Stedelijk Museum, designed by Wim Crouwel, Total Design, 1967

Cover of Gebrauchsgraphik by Heinz Hadem, 1950

Cover of Graphis magazine by Joseph Binder, 1948

Cover of Publimondial by Donald Brun. 1948

Cover of “Design Quarterly” by Rob Roy Kelly, Walker Art Center. 1963

 

Design annuals from the Art Directors Club

Here are three volumes of the Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art from the Art Directors' Club of New York. These were auctioned as a large 17-volume set on Heritage Auctions, and sold for $625. "These issues celebrate the finest in advertising art, featuring such artists or photographers as Arthur Rackham, Norman Rockwell, Edward J. Steichen, Miguel Covarrubias, Diane and Allan Arbus, and Thomas Hart Benton."

Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art 30 | Art Directors' Club of New York. 1951

Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art 33

Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art 34 from the Art Directors' Club of New York. 1955. Jacket design by George Giusti.

The fabulous Alex Steinweiss

Alex Steinweiss was the man who basically invented the album cover. Before him, record sets were sold in book-like albums with brown paper interior sleeves containing multiple records, and the covers were simply plain, like the old photo albums or scrapbooks.  

Steinweiss convinced his bosses at Columbia records to invest in the equipment to print on these covers. They started with generic covers that would leave a space for the album titles, and then gradually each album would have it's own conceptual design, as we know it today.

For more covers and info, visit Poul Webb's blog here.

This is an example of one of Steinweiss's early generic covers, used for symphonic works, the title would be inserted in the white box.

Wilhelm Furtwangler conducts Schumann & Haydn. mid 1950s

Paul Hindemith "Die Harmonie Der Welt" mid 1950s

Paul Hindemith "Die Harmonie Der Welt" mid 1950s

I love this Boswell Sisters cover from 1942, as I love the Boswell Sisters themselves, but we'll talk about that later!

Boogie Woogie set 1942

Boogie Woogie set 1942

Morton Gould and His Orchestra 1951