National Art Library display: Commercial Graphics of the 1930s

On the 21 November 2025, the Service Assistants of the National Art Library will unveil our new display, Commercial Graphics of the 1930s, outside the National Art Library doors. The display will comprise of two cases, one of which contains a variety of examples of Jobbing Printing from the 1930s across Europe, and the other spotlights the works of two Polish Jewish designers, Jan Le Witt and George Him.

What is Jobbing Printing?

Jobbing Printing is a term that describes printed work made up of no more than a couple of sheets of paper. Examples include forms of advertising such as posters, leaflets, and company catalogues, but also magazine covers and labels. Jobbing Printing is as relevant today as it was in the 1930s; the underground poster advertisements for the Marie Antoinette exhibition are a perfect example of Jobbing Printing, as are any leaflets you may collect and browse through during a visit to the V&A.

When did it start?

The term ‘Jobbing Printing’ comes from the 19th century, and is summarised well by Beatrice Ward, a writer and scholar of typography. She described a box full of specimen pages, prospectuses, and newspaper cuttings, all referred to as ‘jobs’, and all representative of contemporary typographic trends. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, emphasis was placed upon increasing economic activity worldwide through eye-catching graphic design in commercial art, and thus the movement began. Companies such as Fortnum and Mason, Guinness, and Shell, worked with talented artists and designers to produce striking advertisements that would appeal to consumers and encourage them to buy their products.

Philip James and Commercial Design

The Jobbing Printing collection was begun by Deputy Keeper Philip James in 1936 before he became Keeper of the Library in 1937. He did this by contacting significant international designers, publishers, printers, and companies, and requesting examples of their graphic work. Together, these works formed a reference collection of modern commercial design that could be studied by students of industrial art to inspire future generations of commercial artists. Much of his correspondence is held in the V&A Archives, and include specific item requests, and even handwritten notes from Philip James commenting on and appraising the work he was sent. Active collection of Jobbing Printing examples was stopped in 1939, as, due to the outbreak of the Second World War, commercial advertisement took a backseat to the war efforts, but additional examples were added in the 1970s and 80s when the V&A’s Circulation Department closed, and items from their collection were added to the National Art Library. However, examples of trade literature are still collected today by the library, showcasing the development of commercial design throughout the 20^th century and into the 21^st. 

Curating the Display

The display, curated by Fen McMorran, Ida Ebehiwalu, Lucy Keck, and Anneke Schadenberg, was inspired by the Jobbing Printing Correspondence files that we have been creating records for in the V&A Archive. The files contain letters written by Philip James and are grouped by correspondent, dating from 1936 to 1939. Part of our work whilst creating records for these letters has been to link them to their corresponding Jobbing Printing examples, and we have spent many hours working with these fantastic pieces of commercial art. The display highlights items that we discovered during this task, meaning that each ‘job’ on display has its own correspondence in the Archives. Some of these letters are included within the display, and all will soon be accessible through the V&A Archive catalogue.

Jan Le Witt and George Him

The display case featuring the work of graphic designers Jan Le Witt and George Him highlights a cohesive portfolio of design with examples of their work for companies such as Birds Eye (Your table – a paradise). Le Witt and Him set up their partnership in 1933, first meeting in the Ziemianski café in Warsaw; additionally, the ‘Skamander’ cover proof included in our display was created for a group of poets who regularly attended the same café!

The pair relocated to London in 1937, on the recommendation of the V&A and publishing firm Lund Humphries. The V&A were involved in completing the immigration forms to assist the duo with their relocation. Their work was admired by many, including E. McKnight Kauffer, another well-known commercial artist, and they quickly secured contracts with the Post Office, London Transport, and government departments such as the Ministry of Information, and the Ministry of War Transport. Their witty designs, which brought out the humour in surrealism, made their work instantly recognisable amongst that of their peers.

Further Reading

NAL Blog Posts:

• Plastic made of milk??? • V&A Blog
• Advertising power and modernity: The 1930s energy battle • V&A Blog
• What in the world is ‘Jobbing Printing’? • V&A Blog

Past Exhibitions/Events:

• Printing a New World: Commercial Graphics in the 1930s – Display · V&A

General Reading:

• Sutherland, D., Hibbard, R. (2015) ‘Promoting commercial art: the initiative of 1936’ in Watson, R., James, E., Bryant, J. (eds) Word & image : art, books and design from the National Art Library https://nal-vam.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1008514892
• James, Philip. (1936) Notes by Philip James … Concerning an Exhibition at South Kensington of Modern Commercial Typography.
• Warde, Beatrice. (1955) The Crystal Goblet : Sixteen Essays on Typography. https://nal-vam.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1705361
• Warde, B. L. (1936) ‘What does ‘Modern’ mean in typography?’, Penrose Annual, vol. 38 pgs. 44-47 https://nal-vam.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1762072