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film and music: Big picture: Snapshot Goldfinger title sequence Will Hodgkinson. The Guardian. London (UK): Sep 30, 2005. pg. 4

The blonde is Margaret Nolan, a forgotten 1960s starlet. The man in silhouette is Robert Brownjohn, one of the most innovative, expensive and downright difficult art directors of the 60s. Nolan is being filmed for the title sequence of Goldfinger (1964), the third James Bond film. She was painted gold from head to toe and images from the film were projected on to her body, creating a hallucinogenic effect that was ahead of its time. Brownjohn had succeeded in turning a title sequence - generally an afterthought - into high art. Had he not died in 1970 from a heart attack aged 44, he would have received greater credit for his innovation.

Robert "Bj" Brownjohn had already made a name for himself as a designer in 1950s New York when he arrived in London in 1960. He claimed that he came over for the city's creative energy. His girlfriend, the super-chic fashion designer Kiki Byrne, remembers it differently. "You could get heroin on the National Health back then," says Byrne. "And Bj did have a problem. But he was also terribly gifted, so he quickly established himself as one of the key figures during a very special period in history."

Brownjohn was at the heart of swinging London when he got the call from Albert "Cubby" Broccoli to design the title sequences for From Russia With Love and Goldfinger. Having been given pounds 850 for the first film, he demanded pounds 5,000 for the second, a huge amount at the time. "We quoted pounds 5,000 and it cost pounds 5,000," remembers his assistant Trevor Bond. "You never made a profit on Bj." Byrne designed the bikini for Nolan.

Goldfinger was to prove a high point in Brownjohn's career. In 1968 he designed the sleeve for the Rolling Stones' album Let It Bleed, an unhappy experience that he illustrated by featuring a smashed wedding cake on the back cover. By this time, heavy drinking and drug use had taken over at the expense of output. He broke up with Byrne the following year, and soon he was living alone in a basement bedsit. But once, as his friend and fellow designer Alan Fletcher remembers, "Bj was the right man, in the right job, in the right place."

Robert Brownjohn: Sex and Typography by Emily King is published by Laurence King in October. An accompanying exhibition is at the Design Museum, London SE1, from October 15. Details: 0870 833 9955.

Film & Music: Up front: Letters: Golden oldie Malcolm MacDonald. The Guardian. London (UK): Oct 7, 2005. pg. 2 Abstract (Summary)

Margaret Nolan is not a "forgotten 1960s starlet" (Big picture, September 30).

Margaret Nolan is not a "forgotten 1960s starlet" (Big picture, September 30). An ageing cohort of admirers remembers a talented model and a hard-working comedy actress with a sideline in political theatre. Also, the Goldfinger title sequence and posters made her a worldwide icon of the decade. Unfortunately most people were under the impression that they were looking at Shirley Eaton.

Malcolm MacDonald Stonehouse

Fleming at 100 BOND's unsung heroes Robert Brownjohn SAM DELANEY. The Sunday Telegraph. London (UK): May 18, 2008. pg. 17

... For Goldfinger, he decided to project imagery as well as words onto the body of the model Margaret Nolan, whom he painted gold from head to toe. As Nolan struck seductive poses, a miniature Sean Connery was seen crawling along her thighs, and a golf ball disappeared between her breasts. Explosions, car chases and bullets shimmered across Nolan's contours as Shirley Bassey belted out the seminal theme tune. It was the first title sequence to require clearance from a film censor; the following year, it won the prestigious gold pencil at the Design and Art Direction awards.

Broccoli and Saltzman offered to set up Brownjohn in his own independent production company to make all their future titles. When he turned them down, the relationship soured. He died in 1970, aged 44, having never worked on another Bond movie. But his title sequences set the tone for the entire Bond series. More, he showed young British designers that creative endeavour could be reconciled with an almost Bond-like lifestyle.