I first saw this book when I was at the Barbican in London to see “Native Nations” (an exhibition showing photography of American Indians taken by American photographers - or something like that, I wasn’t that interested) and when looking through the book shelves in their shop. In fact I was almost left behind as I was so engrossed in the book but the £45 price tag did made me choke a little. However I couldn’t get the book out of my head, and so I decided to order the book a few months later. I was glad I did.
The book starts of with an introduction by Jeremy Myerson, Professor of Contemporary Design at DeMontford University, who provides an outline of Lambie-Nairn’s contribution to international design and communication and explains his far-reaching effects of his innovative work. The book then goes on to an overview of brand identity by Lambie-Nairn using examples from the world of print and the marketing of consumer goods, as well as the idea of brand-management.
He then moves on to describe his background, from BBC to Rediffusion, then from ITN onto LWT where he revolutionised the way in which current affairs scenarios where graphically represented. He then moves onto the Launch of Channel 4, in which initial sketches, and ideas are shown along side his account of how he created the famous and much admired ‘4’ brand identity - still in use today in some form or other. The book carries on in the same vain, with sketches and illustrations adding further interest to his accounts of the ‘repositioning’ BBC 1 & 2, BSB and many foreign stations.