Streamline: American Art Deco

'Streamline' was originally part of Chronicle Books Deco series and I'm surprised its not been reprinted since publication in 1995. What makes the book unique is the excellent coverage of American print graphics from the Twenties to the early Forties. The eight chapters gave a flavor of Deco, Moderne or Streamline print (and packaging) that anyone could have seen in their homes or Main Street across the Nation. The inclusion criteria tends to be rather relaxed with a few items though: page thirty-one shows a 1926 Arrow shirts package with plenty of curlicues around the design, hardly streamline. I would have liked to have seen more advertisements especially those put out by the Austin Company in Cleveland, they designed and build plenty of streamline factories and offices and their monthly ads in Fortune all through the Thirties captured the essence of the style. The book's design is first class (Chronicle editor Bill LeBlond always put out a quality product) and with the other Deco books in the series it makes a comprehensive reference library to this vibrant art form. You can get a compilation of other books with Euro Deco: Graphic Design Between the Wars containing an amazing two thousand print illustrations. ***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.