If you work in advertising, Paul Arden needs no introduction. If you work in annual reports, a brief summary is helpful.

As the creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, Arden was a giant of British advertising in the 70s and 80s. His work for clients like British Airways, Silk Cut, and Toyota are still regarded highly. He was by most accounts, a difficult man to work with, but brilliant nonetheless.

Arden’s first book, It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be, is a self-help book for the “talented and timid” creative. It discusses business and personal success in short, easy to digest snippets. The subtitle of the book, ‘The world’s best-selling book by Paul Arden’ is absolutely true, but only if you read it the way he intends. This sort of playfulness is in full flow throughout the book.

Echoing the short attention span of most advertising creatives, some chapters are as brief as a single page, while the longest is two-and-a-half pages long. This makes for an interesting design challenge. How do you present what are essentially a series of loosely connected thoughts and bursts of advice into a readable format?

Roger Kennedy (head of typography at Saatchi & Saatchi at the time) rose to this challenge by organising Arden’s pithy advice into the form of a small book. The dimensions are perfect – the book is little larger than a postcard. Kennedy sets the type large enough that pages feel full, but leaded loosely enough that it’s a quick read. The uncoated, off-white paper stock is easy on the eye and works to balance the weight of the type.

The most puzzling aspect of the design is the typesetting. The type in every spread of the book looks like an advertisement – meant to be read from afar – rather than the text of a book. The forced justification of text blocks creates ugly rivers in the paragraphs but because you’re reading so fast, it’s hardly noticeable.

Perhaps it’s all intentional. Arden was a contrarian and maverick. The book questions authority, makes fun of safe ideas, interrogates old habits and encourages play. His advice on personal and business success are easily applicable to anyone running a studio. There is much to learn here, from his long experience.

Credits: Paul Arden/Phaidon