The Working Brain: An Introduction to Neuropsychology by A.R. Luria

The Working Brain is an introduction to neuropsychology, written by Soviet psychologist A.R. Luria as a concise adjunct volume to his magnum opus, Higher Cortical Functions in Man from 1962. It was translated to the English by Basil Haigh for Penguin Books in 1973. Shown here is the cover of the US paperback edition by Basic Books.

The uncredited cover designer built a wall of type by repeating the title over and over. The chosen typeface is Bob Newman’s Turtle (Letraset, 1971), prominently featuring its unique nested W. Turtle apparently was chosen because its letterforms are reminiscent of convolutions of the brain.

Nick Curtis made a digitization as Turtellini NF (2011). Last year, Raphaël de La Morinerie and Ethan Nakache released their digital interpretation of Turtle under the name Reptil.