Simon Beattie – Identity
Many dealers catalogues follow a generic and traditional formula; produced as ‘listings’ that seem to bypass a key ingredient: the joy of the book.
The Antiquarian book trade gets a good dusting down with this mould breaking approach to cataloging, celebrating his discoveries and showcasing “The books you never knew you wanted” in all their eclectic glory.
The new stationery set draws upon the rich array of eclectic typefaces and colour in Beattie’s books and catalogues. All his correspondence become framed with a variety of decorative quotation marks and provides a contrast to the more ordered address details.
Fresh Awards; Simon Beattie, Posters; Posters category
Bronze
Design Week Awards; Simon Beattie, Identity; Identity design category
Shortlisted
Art Directors Club Awards; Simon Beattie, Identity; Booklet/Brochures category
Bronze
92%
Of the books within the Simon Beattie Catalogue sold within the first 4 weeks of launch.
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‘This is Simon. He has great books and does great catalogues.’ This is how a curator from Yale University’s renowned Beinecke Library, one of the world’s great collections of rare books and manuscripts, introduced me to its new Director. At the time I had only been in business just over a year and the rise, from humble beginnings to attention-grabbing accolades—‘the most innovative and exciting piece of book selling literature that I have ever seen’; ‘you’ve brought antiquarian booksellers’ catalogues into the 21st century’—is entirely due to working with Purpose.
Style and substance. I find interesting material and Purpose presents it in such a way that I can receive as many as 15 orders for a single item in a catalogue. The point of producing catalogues is to sell books. Mine generally sell at least 80% (about double what many booksellers achieve). But it’s the overwhelmingly positive reaction, from private collectors, specialist librarians, and my fellow booksellers, right around the world, which has been most gratifying.
Fantastic sales, a high profile in the industry, and everyone saying nice things about you. Success doesn’t come much better than that.