Glorious beaches, noble gum trees, distant purple mountains and endless blue skies—these powerful images, used to identify and promote Australia internationally and at home, were largely created by commercial artists like James Northfield. Northfield’s early career coincided with the boom in commercial advertising in Australia, and his skills were called on to promote a diverse range of products, from holidays in Australia to Kiwi boot polish. Richly illustrated with examples of posters and promotions from the golden age of advertising, this 104-page book celebrates Australia’s commercial art heritage through an examination of the work of one of our best commercial artists (NLA dust jacket).

Roger Saddington (Official Printer for the James Northfield Heritage Art Trust):

“I’ve been aware of James Northfield’s fundamental contribution to Australian design culture since my university days over 30 years ago. Today, my decade-long association with the James Northfield Heritage Art Trust is one of my proudest professional achievements. It’s been a delight to work closely with the Trust, helping preserve Northfield's legacy and disseminate his work to a broad and appreciative audience worldwide.”

Artist and master digital printmaker Roger Saddington began his professional career as a designer at the National Gallery of Victoria in the early 1990s before developing an artistic practice encompassing painting, sculpture, digital art and photography. In 2003, he founded the consultancy Art Strategies Australia, which has provided art to some of Australia’s largest companies for more than 15 years. Art Strategies also became a key player in the emerging realm of digital art publishing, incubating the gallery and website www.printism.com.auin 2012 as a unique resource featuring new works in print. Always mercurial and entrepreneurial, today Saddington continues to develop innovative art solutions across a range of industries, styles and media.