Printers will accomplish the most in booklet printing, as in other branches of the craft, if they live in an artistic atmosphere. Sir Joshua Reynolds, the great English painter, said: “The more extensive your acquaintance is with the works of those who have excelled, the more extensive will be your powers of invention.” That is the reason painters haunt Italy and other art centers where the works of the old masters are accessible. The printer should take journals such as The American Printer, devoted to the art of typography; for these journals bring to the great army of craftsmen specimens of the work of famous printers and of those who are contributing their mite to the cause of good typography.
The helpful atmosphere of the trade papers can be supplemented by specimen booklets for study purposes. These booklets can be obtained by writing to the printers producing them, or to the advertiser; and many can be had from retail houses selling the articles advertised in the booklets.
The printer must learn more than he now knows about art or he will become only a caddie in the game of booklet printing, with the artist and ad.-writer making all the puts. The printer is depending too much upon the artist and too little upon himself. The possibilities of type arrangement have not been exhausted and never will be, yet many workers at the printing trade act upon the assumption that good printing is impossible without the artist’s initiative and co-operation. Many a good job of printing has been spoiled by inferior lettering or decoration, the work of a poor artist.
Withal, there is nothing more ideal than a good printer and a good artist working together to produce perfect printing.
EXAMPLE 175
Page from an automobile catalog designed by Thomas Maitland Cleland. The caption is grouped in spaced capitals of Bodoni Book. The illustration is from a pen-and-ink drawing
EXAMPLE 176
Unusual treatment of a specifications page. Words in capitals are letterspaced. Rules are used to add character to the page. These reproductions are one-half the size of the originals
