David Pelham designs for Studio International
The David Pelham era was the golden age of Penguin cover design. As art director from 1968 he raised the overall visual standard through a policy of intelligent and sophisticated cover art. As he said, “I always liked a bit of polish.”
But five years before Penguin, Pelham was art editor of a British art magazine, Studio International.
“Studio was one of the most successful fine art periodicals in the English-speaking world. In the post-war years, the magazine was redesigned by David Pelham and its title was changed to Studio International to reflect its increasing overseas influence.”
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These copies are from 1962-63 and as you can see they still seem very contemporary. I bought these copies for $2 each in a dusty secondhand bookshop; my eye was attracted by the modern cover art – bold colours, simple forms and clean sans serif type. In contrast, the interior articles look very old – there is nothing so dated as an old art magazine.
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Pelham was art editor for Studio International in the early 1960s before moving to Harpers Bazaar and later to Penguin in 1968 where he stayed foe eleven years.
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PENGUIN SERIES DESIGN 