The Status Seekers Book Cover Analysis- revisions, quotes and other related images

The Status Seekers is a book about the ever present class system in 1950s/1960 America and the societal expectations and anxieties of the then modern man. 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 can be inferred that the image was designed in mind of the book, rather than a design choice from an art director to use a pre-existing piece of work as the cover.

It is clean, bold, graphic, true to the modernist thinking of the time. Modernist design suggests progressiveness in a forward thinking book. It has been said that 'The first characteristic associated with modernism is nihilism, the rejection of all religious and moral principles as the only means of obtaining social progress'. It seems that this book, as a critique of pre-existing social systems, would be of personal interest to Larry Carter, as a Modernist designer, and made him a very appropriate choice of artist too. 

And so I suppose the book itself too can be said as a piece of Modernist thinking. On the very first page of the main text it outlines its desire to deconstruct the class system and preconceived social expectations. 'In such a climate, do the barriers and humiliating distinctions of social class evaporate?' (Packard, 1969: 11).

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.

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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'.

Forty or so years later from this book, and image, class systems remain prevalent. And this zig-zagged journey is still a race felt by many. Whilst 'The Status Seekers' deals with the class system as a whole a lot of writing and illustration on these subjects now (particularly editorial) feels more inward gazing, more personal and caring for the 'victim' who suffers at the hand of this as opposed to battling an oppressive system. Books such as 'Liquid Life' discuss how modern life is 'a precarious life, lived under conditions of constant uncertainty' (Bauman, 2007:2)

On the other hand the stark eyes of the book cover for 'The Status Seekers' remain anonymous and unrelatable. The viewer does not relate to the image, but rather looks upon it as an obstacle to overcome.

MORE ILLUSTRATIONS IN RESPONSE TO SIMILAR THEMES

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Packard, V (1969) 'The Status Seekers' 7th ed. Harmondsworth, Penguin Books Ltd
• Bauman, Z (2007) 'Liquid Life'  3rd ed. Cambridge, Polity Press

• 'History of Modernism' [internet], US, MDC.edu, available from <https://www.mdc.edu/wolfson/Academic/ArtsLetters/art_philosophy/Humanities/history_of_modernism.htm> [accessed 05/11/2014]

• fig.1, Larry Carter, 1969, 'The Status Seekers', book cover, available from <http://www.retronaut.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Pelican-Covers-60s-5.jpg?fit=300%2C10000>
• fig.2, Larry Carter, 1969, 'The Hidden Persuaders', book cover, available from <http://www.thingsmagazine.net/projects/1960s/1962%20The%20Hidden%20Persuaders%20-%20Vance%20Packard.jpg>
• fig.3 Harry Campbell, 2013, 'The Baby in the Well', editorial illustration, available from <http://www.newyorker.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/130520_r23373_g2048-902.jpg>
• fig.4 Monica Ramos, 2014, 'Microbes Gone Wild', editorial illustration, available from <https://medium.com/re-form/microbes-gone-wild-7c8e43e450e>
• fig.5 Angela Wang, 2014, 'NY Times Private Lives Column', editorial illustration, available from <http://36.media.tumblr.com/2bdd57c0120f4be300e0754446d035f2/tumblr_nbzdkwG8kv1qc5s0vo1_1280.jpg>
• fig.6 Luke Pearson, 2011 'How To Exist for A Day', comic, available from <http://www.squidfaceandthemeddler.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/exist-1.jpg>

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POSSIBLE THEMES TO ARISE FROM THIS...

• social ideologies / pressures of the modern world / modern anxieties 
• (continuing from those themes) self-obsession
• class systems