David King (1943-2016) was a unique designer because he refused to compromise with his design outlook. This excellent monograph reveals the strong influence of Soviet constructivism reflected in publications designed by Lissitzky, Mayakovsky and Rodchenko. The design of King's books in the '70s and '80s, shown in the 'Visual history' chapter, could have come straight out of book publishing during the constructivist years in the USSR.
King was only twenty-two when the 'Sunday Times' art director Michael Rand offered him a job on the newspaper's supplement and after two years he became the art editor, remaining for ten years. The Russian influence was apparent with the use of large graphics, powerful photo montages and Franklin Gothic Heavy for the headlines, mostly in capitals (Franklin was his favourite type throughout his career). It was King who obviously contributed several articles over years in the magazine on the visual look of communism and its leading political personalities. After the 'Sunday Times' supplement, he was a consultant for the alternative listing weekly 'City Limits' and freelance designer of 'Crafts' magazine. The author points out that the 'Crafts' readership was not quite ready for the radical look of different column widths for the copy, thick rules in black and red and angled headlines. The 'Visual activism' chapter probably has some of King's best work with some quite stunning posters for left-wing causes.
Apart from being a remarkable designer, King had a fascination with communism and its visual history and he built up a significant collection of photos, posters and books. This material enabled him to write (and obviously design) two of his best-known books: 'The Commissar vanishes' and 'Red Star over Russia'. Both books contribute to an understanding of the corrupting influence of life in the Soviet Union during Stalin's reign of terror.
The book is well-produced (thanks to designer Simon Esterson) with 260 colour pictures and some in mono. Rick Poynor has written an excellent book celebrating the life of a unique publication and poster designer and in later life a historian.
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