Bookshelf: Up this week is creative director of Human After All, Paul Willoughby

Despite sharing his surname with one of literature’s most dastardly characters, Paul is actually a really nice guy. He’s a well-known, London-based artist and illustrator and is also the creative director of Human After All and the former creative director of Little White Lies magazine. So yeah, pretty talented really. He’s given us a very, very concise peek into his bookshelf today and my oh my does he have some gems! A book of Chinese apothecary packaging design? Yes please.

Robert Crumb: Sketchbooks

I picked up three volumes of Crumb’s sketchbooks after his show in London’s Whitechapel Gallery. I tend to like artists’ sketchbooks way more than their finished pieces most of the time. The drawings are completely uninhibited and unapologetic.

Graphis Annual 63/64

I sound like a broken record now when it comes to these annuals. They’re just a great addition to creatives’ sphere of influence, as they show commercial art from a wildly different time.

Mono Aquirax

This is a collection of black and white illustration work from one of Japan’s most prolific artists and illustrators. I love the bizarreness and fluidity of line. He manages to render simple objects with a unique energy.

Hong Kong Apothecary: a Visual History of Chinese Medicine Packaging

Athlete’s foot packaging has never looked so beautiful.

Diane Arbus: Revelations

Stunning book from one of the best exhibitions I’ve seen in London. She’s had a huge influence on the way I observe characters.