GPO

This new book in the "Design" series is based on the poster collection of the British Postal Museum and Archive, London. It tells the story of the Post Office and the use of design in its visual communications. The Post Office depends on effective communication to alert the wider population of the whole variety of services that it provides. Before the age of the internet and of television, the post office pioneered the use of graphic design and of cinema as tools of public relations. Accordingly, it placed itself at the heart of a global community that spanned the British Empire. The idea of community as a flow of information and defined as communication is at the heart of the Post Office and what it means to people throughout Britain and the world. This book is a celebration of communication and identity as important parts of design in Britain during the twentieth century. "E. McKnight Kauffer, Design" contains over 150 illustrations, many from original artworks, and work not before reproduced. With descriptions by Brian Webb and an introductory essay by Peyton Skipwith. The "Design" series is the winner of the Brand/Series Identity Category at the British Book Design and Production Awards 2009, judges said: 'A series of books about design, they had to be good and these are. The branding is consistent, there is a good use of typography and the covers are superb.'

Paul Rennie is Head of Context in Graphic Design at Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London. He is the author of Design: Festival of Britain (2007).