In this Logo Book Review, we take a look at a rare and beautiful book called Logo International 1 by David E. Carter
David E. Carter is a man who made and produced more than 100 books on logos and graphic design. His first book, Book of American TradeMarks Vol. 1, was published in 1972. His last one, The Big Book of Design Ideas 3, in 2008. The work of this man is thus a must to add in the logo book review section. Logo International 1 (1984) is a beautiful book, but it won’t bring as much joy as you would expect it to do to everyone.
Logo International 1 is published by Art Direction Book Company and contains 144 pages. The book is rather thin, but once you open the book, you can find multiple logos placed on one sheet which makes the book a well-documented publication containing more than 2000 logos.
The book is David E. Carter’s first publication of international logos. Since the man is a citizen of the USA, this immediately tells us that Logo International 1 contains logos from all over the world, except the USA.
The logos are grouped per designer and contain a reference number which explains what company the logo was made for. Don’t look for more information in this book because it simply isn’t there. Besides a short introduction about the content of the book and why Carter created the book, you have no guidance whatsoever. There is no index, no table of contents, no list of the designers and their work which are featured… nothing.
The lack of this information doesn’t make this book the most ideal for looking up specific information. When you’re out for inspiration, this book is a little gem. Logo International 1 contains work from very good, but sometimes less famous designers as well. The book thus contains a lot of great logos you might have never seen before.
Despite the lack of some very useful information, the book is a gift for every logo purist. The book is printed in black which is, to some of us, a huge plus. If you’re looking for a good, surprising and purely inspirational logo book, this might be one worth adding to your collection.
