This series of James Bond covers were the paperback presence of Ian Fleming’s character during the height of its fame in the 1960s and the Sean Connery films. There were millions of copies printed so that by the time I started collecting in the late 70s/early 80s, these were still the most-common editions to be found, even though other cover designs had succeeded them.

The previous paperback series had more typical painted illustration covers, but these simple, conceptual and iconic covers remain fantastic examples of design. They were the first series of Bond books to use modern typefaces (Helvetica and News Gothic in this case), and minimalistic imagery that included photographs. They would have stood out on a spinner rack that was still dominated by traditional imagery.

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