There is something delightfully perverse about Think Small: The Story of the World’s Greatest Ad by Dominik Imseng (Full Stop Press). As you can see, the long and narrow yet small book is about the VW campaign that changed the face of advertising and sold the oft-noted “Nazi car in a Jewish town.” About the book design, the designer Bruce Roberts writes, “I wanted this book to look like ‘Think Small.’ That’s why I used Futura and set the text in three blocks under a centered headline. The binding is called ‘threadsewn.’ It makes the open book lay flat like an ad and—by revealing what is normally hidden—reflects the honesty of ‘Think Small.'” It works too. The unconventional proportions make the book pleasing to hold and easy to read. And it is a good read, based on a slew of interviews with players in the Think Small conspiracy. (See more here.)
.For more legendary branding design, check out Identify: Basic Principles of Identity Design in the Iconic Trademarks of Chermayeff & Geismar, available at MyDesignShop.com.