Four Color Separations

These are proof pages of four-color separations from the printer of the May 7, 1966 cover of Business Week that Joseph Papin illustrated. It was rolled up in the back of a cabinet with three other of his Business Week covers. This one is my favorite because of all the color and how interesting the color and the line drawings look separated from one other. The little video following these three photos of the drawing shows the additional color separations provided to Business Week by the Bingham Photo Engraving Company.

I found the following information pertaining to McGraw-Hill, publisher of Business Week:

“In the specialized business magazine field, the shift to offset was also spectacular. By 1970, about two out of three of these magazines were products of offset and McGraw-Hill, the largest publisher of business magazines, had converted all its output (about 40 magazines) to offset. While many mass circulation consumer magazines were still able to use rotogravure and letterpress advantageously because higher initial costs could be countered by other advantages, even for these circulation giants the advantages of faster presses, improved cold type composition, and more durable plates have resulted in the increasing use of offset.” Arthur T Turnbull, A. T. & and Baird, R. N. (1975) The graphics of communication: Typography, layout, design, 3rd edition, p. 280)

I believe that this was done on a rotogravure press – this is the cover sheet for all the proof pages; following this are the instructions on the bottom of the proof sheet from the press so that they are legible.