At the start of 1973, Swift began work on a new set of covers for Jon Silkin’s magazine. The artwork for the last cover of 1972 had been provided by none other than David Hockney in the form of his ‘Lawn Sprinkler’. This perhaps prompted Swift to explore a new artistic direction in his approach to designing the magazine’s covers. One can certainly note an aesthetic departure from his usual style; as discussed in the cover note for last year’s 18(1), many of Swift’s covers focussed on striking typographic renderings of the ‘Stand’ itself.

The cover for 1973’s 14(1) marked the start of a series of similarly styled covers from Swift, most of which featured angular and geometric designs in bold block colours. His design has been revived for this issue – while the layout and geometric forms have been mostly preserved, the colours have been given a more contemporary and vibrant update. Thus, Stand 19(1) proudly sports one of Swift’s most memorable designs nearly 50 years after it was originally used.
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