Steven Heller on the great book designer Alvin Lustig
Steven\xa0Heller\xa0is an eminent American graphic designer, art director, art critic and scholar.\u200b He \u200bhas authored or\u200b co-authored \u200bmore than 200 \u200bbooks which variously trace\u200b the history of typography, illustration and other subjects related to graphic design.\u200b I talk with Steve here about Alvin Lustig an American American book designer, graphic designer and typeface designer. Some of Lustig's most innovative work was for New Directions, the independent publishing firm. For example, he designed more than seventy iconic dust jackets for the New Classics literature and other series from the mid-40s until his death in 1955. His non-literal designs exuded a modern art sensibility and incorporated a fresh approach to typeface design that defined the New Directions look.\xa0 \xa0 Steve and I met via\xa0Zoom to discuss Born Modern: The Life and Design of Alvin Lustig a book he co-wrote with\xa0 Elaine Lustig Cohen, Alvin's widow. Among other things we talk about magic shows and magicians, design as sleight of hand, illusions, tactility, Frank Lloyd Wright, hot metal, Constructivism, helicopters, furniture design, Ward Ritchie, New Directions, James Laughlin, expressionistic modernism,\xa0 primitive art, catholic church propagandists, soldier's ribbon bars, being close to genius, Alvin's blindness, and Steve's forthcoming memoir Growing up Underground\xa0(Princeton Architectural Press, 2022).\xa0