Speedball Catalog

I have this catalog that must be about 50 years old. It was one of things I'd inherited from my Dad, besides a penchant for good beer and oysters. Before he'd become a mechanical engineer, he was in the Air Force, studying drafting. I'd always heard it wasn't his real interest, but, a lot of the tools and techniques he'd learned, he'd gone on to use in his later career.

This catalog/design manual had been issued to all of the draftsmen at the time. It was a basic rundown on how to use the 'Speedball Pen' which was commonly used at the time. The book shows how to draft up basic fonts, as well as add handrawn motifs and designs. Stuff that's all done on the computer nowadays.

Some of the pages even give you an idea on how to approach basic layout. Showing 'bad layouts' as well as ideal ways to place words and images together. It's awesome how most of these principles still matter more than ever now, especially with web/print design.