‘Risk-Taking Trailblazers’ – A New Logo Book by John Spencer
It reportedly all started with a handful of social media posts graphic designer John Spencer called his “blasts from the past”.
Each showed one of his logos along with an anecdote. Months later John’s posts had evolved into Risk-Taking Trailblazers, a book about some of his favourite logos and the people for whom he designed them.
Some of the designs are recent, others have been making their mark for decades, and a few “have had their day”.
“It’s all the rage in the design industry to evangelise about purpose beyond profit and hold forth about how we should be using our skills to contribute to the world in a way that makes a positive difference to people’s lives. It’s not a new idea and a lot of agencies who claim to have a social conscience are just social washing,” says John, who heads Sunbury-on-Thames-based Offthetopofmyhead.
“I’ve worked with some extraordinary people. They help disadvantaged children fulfil their potential, enrich society with arts and culture, and improve the lives of people with mental illness. They harness the power of innovation and technology to build a sustainable world, fund life-saving medical research and fight for indigenous people’s rights.
“Their stories are heart-warming, heart-breaking, happy, sad and funny. In Risk-Taking Trailblazers there are anecdotes about dancing bears, a singing duck, spaghetti westerns, Domesday Book, a famous boat race, a cheeky kiss and a singular encounter with a duke.”
Risk-Taking Trailblazers follows on from two other books, namely, Time Flies When You’re Having Fun and There’s No Bullsh*t Like Design Bullsh*t.
All three books are published by Impress, with the latest being published in hardback – and which is available to buy here.
Offthetopofmyhead
www.offthetopofmyhead.co.uk
