The Status Seekers is a book about the ever present class system in 1950s/1960 America. It particularly focuses on middle class ideologies- a broader debate rather than a specific event. The cover is illustrated by Larry Carter as part of the Pelican division of Penguin. It is a scholarly book, perhaps almost ironically aimed at the middle class whilst also criticising them- as many modern articles on the topic are too!
I cannot be sure of the media used. Whether it originated as a print or not it has now been mass produced through the medium of print to become a book cover. It is clean, bold, graphic, true to the modernist thinking of the time. Modernist design suggests progressiveness in a forward thinking book.
The composition is similar to other Pelican books of the time. This uniformity creates brand recognition across the titles. This particular cover also works as part of its own series, the same image used slightly different on another of Vance Packard's titles,
The Hidden Persuaders. A strange or lazy choice perhaps, but one that creates a sense of cohesion and recognisability between the two. There is a clear connection and it is suggested that the two be read as a pair.
It is abstract. Two eyes creep from the bottom of the image, half obscured. From them, what appears to be a path leads up eventually to a symbolic house. The road is zig-zagged. The distance of the house from the eyes suggests that the symbol lies there in place of the mind, or perhaps a crown. The height suggests a hierarchy between the house and the eyes/ person. In conjunction with the text it soon becomes clear that this is about status as the title suggests, the house being a classic indicator of financial status- a high up dream just out of reach. The zig-zagged path suggests a journey, which could indicate that this book could be documenting said journey, perhaps as a help guide. But the eyes, wide and dark suggest a madness within the method! And of course, the blatant title would never suit the self-effacing middle classes. Nobody would admit that they were aiming for this 'status'.
