Among Lustig's works there is a large number of book covers designed for New Directions and Noonday Press. He did not like the typical designs of the book jackets, which would almost summarize the contents of the book with an image. Instead, he would read the book and get a feeling that would inspire him to create book cover. Each one of those designs was very unique. His designs were abstract and characteristically had small font titles, which was an influence of Jan Tschichold work.
The first one of those designs, 1941 edition of Wisdom of the Heart, by Henry Miller, was very different from what was popular back then. It was made from different pieces of type metal that he had in his own experimental printing shop (by James Laughlin, New Directions - Print Magazine, Oct/Nov 1956)
Alvin Lustig
Book jacket for Henry Miller “The Wisdom of the Heart”, 1941
http://www.alvinlustig.com/bp_nd/bp_nd.php
Lloyd Wright had also influenced some of Lustig's works; they studied together for three months at Taliesin East. In his design for The Ghost in the Underblows, 1940, he was experimenting with abstract designs made from pieces of typographic metal.
Alvin Lustig
Book jacket for Alfred Young Fischer “The Ghost in the Underblows”, 1940 http://www.alvinlustig.com/aa_intro.php
"27 Wagons Full of Cotton" is another good example of Lustig's imagination and his ability to redefine the media in terms of what could be done with it.
Alvin Lustig
Book jacket for Tennesse William “27 Wagons Full of Cotton”, 1949
http://susanneschade.ifunnyblog.com/27wagonsfullofcotton/
In his book "The Book Jackets of Alvin Lustig," James Laughlin discusses how Lustig approached book design, in essence he would try to reflect authors creativity through the abstract and angular designs of his book covers.
Alvin Lustig
Book jacket for E. M. Forster “The Room with a View”, 1946
http://library.rit.edu/gda/designer/alvin-lustig
In 1944, Lustig moved to New York and accepted the position of visual research director for Look magazine. He was given an opportunity to redesign offices for his offices, which he did by replacing heavy, old-fashioned and dark furniture with lighter, thin-legged furniture, which gave an impression of floating.
Alvin Lustig
Look Magazine Offices, New York, 1944
http://www.alvinlustig.com/ai_intro.php
Lustig also created design for Fortune and Girl Scouts of America. When Lustig started going blind, he continued to work by giving directions to his wife and other assistants by giving reference through the shapes and colors found in his house.
Lustig died at the age of forty. Even at that age he had already brought the principles of Modern art into graphic design. His work still influences both American and international artists. His contribution to the development of graphic design in US was very significant.
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