Eyes on the Prize

Brian Sibley, distinguished author of the Book of Guinness Advertising (still the best book on the subject) and many other things besides, has done me the honour of nominating this blog for a Premio Dardos Award (visible on the left), given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing (their words, not mine). It sounds very grand and I must thank Brian for my nomination. I, in turn, have nominated my colleague from Monkey Brand to accept the award on my behalf in recognition of his invaluable contribution to this blog (see illustration above). I’m now required to nominate five other recipients of this award. Despite an instinctive suspicion of anything that has a chain-letter element, I shall swallow my misgivings but if it continues on an exponential growth curve every blog in existence will eventually be a recipient! Anyway, here goes. In no particular order, the blogs I value most are as follows.


Pignouf is an intrepid and daily explorer of the highways and byways of vintage graphics. Vintage Poster is one of those places where I can be almost certain of being surprised by something I’ve never seen before.


Studio notes from the Santa Monica-based contemporary painter Gregg Chadwick. I discovered this via Librarything and was impressed by the quality of writing and the way that he spoke for a Liberal America whose voice had been all but drowned out in the Bush era. Some of his best writing is about individual paintings – his own and those of others, but he also ranges across contemporary politics and Americana. He can be serious, humane and intelligent without ever being priggish or pompous. Not many blogs can achieve this.



Leif Peng has dedicated his superbly illustrated blog to mid-century graphics and illustration. He has made personal contact with many of the living survivors from the era and collected a huge amount of fascinating recollections. What pleases most is the quality of respect that he gives to these unsung practitioners whose work has hitherto been largely ignored. Today's Inspiration is an admirable labour of love performed on an entirely not-for-profit basis.


Life in a Postcard Mirror is a recent discovery. The author, Debra Gust, has a most enviable job working for the Curt Teich Postcard Archives in the US. She has a fabulous resource on which to draw and she quotes the words of the great Walker Evans at the top of her blog.



Agence eureka is an astonishing and vast compendium of graphic curiosities. There’s no commentary, the images speak for themselves. I see it as a rescue mission – preserving these neglected and overlooked images for new generations to discover.