Gotta love the smell of old books...

Dean
Jun 2, 2018
1 min read

Updated: Apr 12, 2021

Especially if they are the 37th Annual of Advertising and Editorial Art & Design.

ree — Annual's hard bound cover with slip-sleeve

These old advertising and editorial design annuals are a never ending source of inspiration. Filled with the works of the original "Mad Men"—the greats like Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff, Lous Dorfsman, Neil Fujita, Thomas Geismar, Milton Glaser, and Herb Lubalin to name a few—these annuals give us a glimpse into the world of advertising in America during those golden years of advertising and design in the 1950s and 1960s.

The closest I can come to know them is through their work...to hopefully glean a bit of insight to their art and craft.

Great design is timeless.

...some will see a forecast of the future styles and trends in graphics...and some will see it simply as a book of unusual visual interest. But however you see it, we believe you will find the contents of this 1958 Annual interesting, useful and thought-provoking. – PAUL LAWLER, editor, Thirty-Seventh Annual of Advertising & Editorial Art & Design

How very true those words and these images are even 60 years later. So get out there and hunt down some these timeless inspirations.