Otto Storch - a blast from the past!

I was using one of my GDS books from last year (Meggs' History of Graphic Design) as reference for another class & decided to take a closer look at one of the designers. I got the first and fourth images from this book and the other two from the web.

I remember briefly going over Otto Storch, but couldn't remember much about him. So, here are some of his most well known pieces.

Storch was an art director at the Dell publishing house and then worked freelance for a period before going to work for McCall's magazine, where he was art director for almost fifteen years. This magazine was aimed at housewives, mostly.

You'll notice that he really liked doing the double page layout - with an image starting on one side and continuing across the other. I like this concept - it draws the eye from one point to the other. His designs were a little bit advanced for the more conservative magazine and he therefore resigned to concentrate on photography.

I really enjoy looking at this sandwich - It makes me think of an old cartoon called "Blondie". Her husband, Dagwood Bumstead, was constantly making sandwiches that looked like this. How on earth would you even get your mouth around it?

Then you have the last image. It looks like she's sleeping very comfortably, and the text is even bending with her on the page. A very clever design that I think works very well. 

If you're interested in more of his designs, just "google" him, there are a ton of blogs, pinterest boards, magazine articles, etc. about his career. He passed away in 1999 at the age of 86.