All-American Ads of the 90s (English, French and German Edition)
Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Graphic Design
All-American Ads of the 90s (English, French and German Edition) Details
Review “…provides deep insight into the American society of those years through a multitude of advertising motifs.” Read more About the Author Steven Heller is the co-chair of the School of Visual Arts MFA Designer as Author Program. For 33 years he was an art director for The New York Times, and currently writes the “Visuals” column for The New York Times Book Review. He is the author of 120 books on graphic design, illustration, and satiric art.Jim Heimann is the Executive Editor for TASCHEN America. A cultural anthropologist, historian, and an avid collector, he has authored numerous titles on architecture, pop culture, and the history of Los Angeles and Hollywood, including TASCHEN’S Surfing, Los Angeles. Portrait of a City, and the best-selling All American Ads series. Read more
Reviews
I collected all eight volumes from the original sequential series release (1900 thru 1920 is in one volume). It is an INCREDIBLE history of 20th century USA. I really treasure the set, and since I lived through the last four decades of the century these brought back lots of good memories. But I was always disappointed they never made a volume for the 90s. Maybe they needed some time to determine which ads were going to truly be classic??So, I was recently delighted to see that Taschen finally was going to put out a volume for that last decade!! My collection would finally be complete!!! When it was listed, Amazon described it as a "hardback." I wasn't sure what that meant--to the best of my recollection this series was only in the "Flexi" cover--a thick but flexible cardboard. The Flexi cover really could be described as both paperback and hardback, because it is somewhere in between. I even emailed Taschen from their website, and they assured me it was the same format as the original series!!! Right on!!!Unfortunately, this is a real cloth-bound hardback with a dust cover. It is beautifully done, with all the great imagery you expect from Taschen--but it does not match the rest of my set. I have several hundred dollars invested in the set, and I'd like to keep it consistent, both for aesthetics and for investment value (haha--books are notoriously bad investments).So the dilemma for me now is: Do I send the 90s back and hope that they will eventually do it in a Flexi-cover?? Or do I keep it and just consider it fortunate that they finally covered the 90s?? But then, if they eventually publish a Flexi-cover, do I buy that one as well and give this hardcover as a gift??I'm particularly peeved that the "customer service rep" at Taschen has little knowledge of their own history or product. I would think she could have easily investigated the issue I exactingly described and given me an accurate answer.Most of you are familiar with the entire series. This new 90s addition is probably fine as a stand-alone, but if you are interested in this content at all I can practically guarantee that you will want the entire series. Just be wary and try to buy matching editions....I have learned it can be tricky. BTW, I think I actually prefer the Flexi cover--it is much easier to peruse and it protects the book's colorful content just fine.
