1953 Ladislav Sutnar – Package Design: The Force of Visual Selling

Sutnar, Ladislav. Package Design: The Force of Visual Selling. New York: Arts, Inc., 1953. Oblong 4to. 128 pp. Original orange and silver cloth boards with original pictorial dust jacket. Profusely illustrated with 545 photographs and examples of contemporary packaging and commercial design.

Book design and special photographs by Ladislav Sutnar. Ione O’Reilly and Clifford S. Eriksen assisted in editing the text; John V. Dvorsky prepared the index; Philip Pearlstein and Steve Hatala assisted with photography; Bernard Stein handled production. Printed by The Gallery Press, New York.

An important work by Ladislav Sutnar devoted to the principles and practice of modern package design. Sutnar examines packaging as an instrument of visual communication and sales promotion, illustrating his arguments with an extensive selection of American commercial packaging, trademarks, labels, containers, and advertising displays. The material is systematically organized into sections covering buying habits and brand names, household products, perfumes and cosmetics, and beauty products.

Published during Sutnar’s mature American period, the book demonstrates the application of the functionalist principles developed during his European career to postwar American advertising and consumer culture. Both the striking dust jacket and the exceptionally clear typographic organization of the book were designed by Sutnar.

Hardcover in fine condition. Original dust jacket price-clipped at flap, otherwise good, with wear and minor chipping along the lower border.