Small Wonder: the amazing story of the Volkswagen (Beetle), written by Walter Henry Nelson. The book was originally published in 1965. My father had a paperback on our family bookshelf and about ten years ago I picked it up to read it. The illustration on the cover was several VW Beetles in red, blue yellow and white. The book was excellent. The story of the Volkswagen Beetle from its pre-WWII conception to its domination of the German Autobahn (as well as U.S. interstate highways) by the early 1960’s. If you find the book somewhere I recommend picking it up and reading it to anyone. Although the book is about an automobile the history and human element are also important aspects to the story which is very well written.
Below is my design using a 1960’s photo and the typeface Futura which is very VW advert. Very minimalist.
My father had quite a few books and other items which related to German cars laying around when my sisters and I were growing up. Volkswagen and Porsche Audi were the primary ones. Dad worked for these companies in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. In the early 70’s he went into business for himself, working on foreign automobiles at an affordable cost for the customer. He gained notoriety for a brief time attracting clientele from surrounding cities. When his parts supplier went under and he had to raise his fees to make up the difference his business quickly suffered.
The Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi automobiles were very influential in the development of me and my sisters. One of my sister’s first car was an Audi Fox, which she later passed down to my youngest sister. My youngest sister later drove a Volkswagen Jetta for several years. None of us own a German car today.
I have actually never owned a German car. But I always look at them and consider them when the time comes to buy a new (lightly used vehicle). When the time was approaching a few years ago to consider my next convertible I looked seriously at the Volkswagen EOS hard top convertible. The main influence of my father’s automobile career on me has been to take care of my autos like they are living beings. I have become emotionally attached to my cars and have shed a tear when trading in more than one of them. For me my autos are almost like pets. They are symbols of freedom and liberty allowing me to fly through the world at high speeds. I feel this about driving whether I am taking on a 5hr journey or a trip to the grocery store. I think this is why I love convertibles so much.
Anyway, this is one of the many ways that my father has touched my life. I love driving, I love cars and I love you Dad, and I miss you. I wish you could have met my Mustang. I know it’s not German, but it’s quite fun and liberating to drive with the top down.
Happy Father’s Day everyone.
Reminders: I am always accepting submissions for words or phrases. If you would like to see me design something around yours, submit it in the comments area below. Also, If you are on Facebook please add Circadian Creative’s Facebook page to your “liked” pages. If you log into Facebook and do a search on Circadian Creative it will come up at the top of the list. I update the page daily after each post here and I have also archived the daily designs by month in the photo section.
See you all tomorrow.
Sean
Circadian Creative 