Automobile Design Graphics

(Hardback, Multilingual edition)

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Description

In the heyday of the automobile, marketing cars was an exacting process. Selling the public one of their major life purchases involved not only traditional advertising but also a crucial item that extolled the virtue of the cars: the brochure. Often oversize and sumptuously produced, including acetate overlays with fabric and paint swatches, brochures were only available at dealer showrooms or auto fairs-hence specimens of antique and vintage car brochures are rare collector's items today. Frequently overlooked in design and automotive histories, this ephemera offers a lucid mirror image of tastes, consumerism, and buying habits since the dawn of the automobile. Automobile Design Graphics presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of this mostly forgotten breed of collateral advertising. From the most obscure (Tucker, Ajax, Columbia) to the most iconic (General Motors, Ford, Chrysler), the visual history brings together over 500 reproductions from these rare and collectible customer brochures. Across eight decades, they present not only some of the finest cars, but also some of the best illustration and graphic design of the 20th century. Ancillary examples of automotive literature, including the elaborate dealer manuals are also featured, alongside essays by automobile and cultural historian Jim Donnelly and preeminent design historian Steven Heller. Testament to a bygone era when cars were, quite simply, the stuff dreams were made of, this book is a visual and informative pleasure for car enthusiasts, designers, and pop culture aficionados alike.

Reviews

...unique specimens of how car buyers' desires have changed over the years, illustrated by the best American illustration and graphic design of the last century. * Bloomberg.com *
The book gives a fascinating insight into how car buyers' desires have developed over the course of eight decades - as well as offering a feast of visionary artwork. * dailymail.com *

Author Bio

Steven Heller has produced over 200 books on visual communication and published countless articles in international design magazines. Currently he is cofounder and cochair of the MFA Design program at the School of Visual Arts, New York. Jim Donnelly is senior editor of Hemmings Motor News, the worlds foremost source on automotive heritage, and has written for Hemmings Classic Car, Sports & Exotic Car, and Muscle Machines. He is the author of the racing biography Millers Time. Jim Heimann is the Executive Editor for TASCHEN America. A cultural anthropologist, historian, and an avid collector, he has authored numerous titles on architecture, pop culture, and the history of Los Angeles and Hollywood, including TASCHENs Surfing, Los Angeles. Portrait of a City, California Crazy, and the All-American Ads series.