THE TRADE VALUE OF GOOD DESIGN.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
SIR,—I was very much interested in Mr. Clough Williams- Ellis's review in the Spectator of Messrs. Carson's chocolate packings. For over a year I have been looking for original and attractive cover designs for writing pads, size 8 in. by 10 in., large post quarto, but I have usually been offered the conventional girls' heads—of which there are already more than enough. I believe that the virtue of a design lies in its ability to interest and please the public. To my mind the ideal is one which illustrates a name well known to those to whom it is expected to appeal. For instance, some very interesting and artistic pictures could be produced illustrating such names as Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, All Baba, Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Sir Launcelot, Carmen, Cleopatra, Tutankhamen, the Sphinx, the Toreador, Arcadia, the Jungle, the Ocean Beach, the Oasis, the Bedouin, the Valkyrie, Odin, Thor. I believe that well-executed illustrations of the foregoing titles would catch and hold the attention of the passer-by, and that if he purchased and approved of the article, the familiar name, specially impressed upon his mind by the picture, would come readily to his lips the next time he had occasion to buy.
I should be very grateful if you could put me in touch with English or European colour-printers who could supply illustrations of this description from stock, size 8 in. by 12 in. or nearest, in lots of 1,000 of a kind. Unfortunately, the cost of a special design for small quantities such as this is quite prohibitive. I am already in touch with Messrs. Vivian A. Mansell and Co., the Cardigan Press, Geo. Harrison and Sons, and the Hills Press, but, with the exception of the last named, most of their designs are of girls' heads. Could you tell me how to obtain samples of the chocolate- box designs which you reviewed ? I am writing to you because, on account of our relatively small population, commercial art has not reached a high level in Australia, and it is very difficult for a novice to know whom to approach overseas.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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