Letters: Derek Birdsall obituary

When the BBC launched the groundbreaking consumer programme Choice in 1962 it put its toe in the water carefully by highlighting the reports published in the magazines Which? and Shoppers’ Guide, and cast Richard Dimbleby as the presenter.

To lighten the look, the producer Paul Bonner commissioned the independent young designers Derek Birdsall and George Daulby to create a sparklingly sharp and up-to-date style for the many necessary graphics. They did, with acclaimed success, but the brilliant Birdsall soon moved back to his true love, print design.
Edward Mirzoeff

In Notes on Book Design, Derek Birdsall told the story of a meeting to discuss Common Worship, the Church of England service book. He recounted: “The purple endpapers came rather late in the day. The night before a production meeting I had dinner at our local Turkish restaurant [with his assistant John Morgan] and noticed the colour of the napkins. At the meeting, when testily asked if we had chosen the endpapers yet, I said, ‘Show them the napkin, John.’”
Mark Schulz