Prior to being hired by James Laughlin of New Directions, Alvin Lustig was an itinerant magician, an employee of Frank Lloyd Wright's, and a freelance printer and typographer. He even worked on the cartoon series Mr Magoo. Before his death at the age of forty, Lustig established a new look in book jacket design in America. His prime influence was European modernism with the likes of Domela, Kauffer, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró. He produced quality work that was always fresh and inventive. On Lorca's Tragedies, he mixes his design with his colleague Connor.