Short List 6

Simon Beattie

A catalogue for an antiquarian book dealer that celebrates the lengths taken to discover each book

Short List 6 is the sixth in a series of sales catalogues for antiquarian book dealer Simon Beattie. In this edition of the catalogue we aimed to celebrate the books as well as the care and investigation it takes for Simon to find each tome.

Short List 6 took the theme of ‘Handled with care’ — displaying the stories and journeys around each book from their publish date through to coming into Simon's possession. The catalogue celebrates Simon's detective work; the stories he unearthed and the lengths gone to uncover each book's unique story.

  • communication: Books / Printed Literature
Details from the catalogue's design
Postage stamps were used as a reference device linking books to descriptions

The covers introduced the theme of 'Handled with care', inside the oversized catalogue utilised short pages to free up images of the books and add pace throughout the catalogue

Covers for Beattie's Short List's always feature the edition's number prominently
Short pages were used intermittently to add pace to the catalogue
Postage stamps were used as a device to cross reference books with descriptions
The stamps also illustrated the geographical journey a book has taken since its publish date
The 'Handled with care' theme was continued throughout the photography of books
Design details
Over 100 individual postage stamps were researched and designed especially for the catalogue

Designed in collaboration with Paul Felton.

Short List 6 (along with Short List 5) was awarded a Premier Award and a Certificate of Excellence in the 2014 ISTD Awards (International Society of Typographic Design).