Present & Correct who made the wonderful Alphabet of endangered species have done it again with a really smart set of classic cafe notecards. 4 different designs celebrate great British dishes in a fitting old-timey way. There are other items to coo over in their new shop.
Ladybird Prints is truly a wonderful thing, selling prints of illustrations from classic Ladybird books. There's a huge selection from different eras, all nicely organised. My favourites are the mid-60s non-fiction books like Things to make and the How it works and Science and Space series. There's something for everyone at only £7.50 a pop (via The Lark).
Andy Tuohy's Poster Moderne exhibition celebrates the forthcoming high speed Kent rail link in the style of classic LNER posters by Tom Purvis, Frank Newbould and others. They show old things in a new light. Or is that new things in an old light. On at Georges House Gallery in Folkestone from Feb 23 to March 5. Nearby Rennie's Seaside Modern has similar mid-century delights for your enjoyment.
Allison at The Lark has posted this great set of vintage British travel posters by Daphne Padden. She's got a wonderful quirky style and they're so of their time, in a really nice way. Her style looks very familiar but I'd never heard of her before. Anyone know any more?
We Live Here from Sheffield make wonderful art prints, t-shirts and accoutrements featuring risky modern buildings. The prints feature Owen Luder's Get Carter car park in Gateshead, soon to be demolished apparently, Sheffield's Egg Box, New Roxy Disco and Cooling Towers, remaindered from a long gone power station. If you like these, wait 'til you see the memorial Sheffield Castle Market Greasy Spoon Mug.
Deep joy. Thanks Simon James for the tip (via Creative Review blog).
Hot on the heels of those fab Beatles stamps, James Bond is next to be commemorated by the postal service (thanks Lucy). The stamps out in January 2008 show 4 different editions of 6 Bond novels. It's a tribute to James Bond and classic book cover design rolled into one. Although they're all mighty fine I have a fondness for the Pan paperbacks - classy and schlocky at the same time. Biorhythm who took the picture above links to the extensive Pan Paperbacks Collectors website which has lots of cover galleries and a brilliant interview with two of the cover artists Sam "Peff" Peffer and Pat Owen. Good to know that they always read the books before designing the covers.
Here's a lovely thing. An ABC of endangered species in the British Isles arranged in a very beautiful A2 wallchart. This is the handiwork of Present & Correct, a design company from Kentish Town. £1 for every one sold goes to The National Trust, for new hedges and dormice boxes.
These are rather lovely. Cardboard cutout Wimbledon figures from The Cabaret Mechanical Theatre Shop. There's a great selection of movable figures, all for only £2.95 a pop. The Many Expressions of Mr Face looks like another winner.
I'm very sad to hear about the death of Charley Harper (via The Skinny). It's easy to sum him up, as a wildlife illustrator with a very distinctive, geometric style but that doesn't really do him justice. I heard about him via the illustrator Bill Wray who applied his style to Dexter's Laboratory. I saw it and was hooked. He does for wildlife what M Sasek did for travel. I was lucky enough to get one of his exhibition posters which hangs in my living room (behind the old movie lights in this photo). I enjoy it every single day. It's got lots of things that I like - ladybirds and primary colours and geometry and white space. I think it's perfect. So I am genuinely sorry to hear about his passing, but glad that in times like this the web rallies together.
Why don't all holidays look like this? Two photos from the gorgeous Mid Century Ship Interiors flickr set which is pulled together from vintage postcards and brochures. See also Mid Century Travel, also from Bonito Club. There's a world of classy design within.
It's been a little short of Japanese retro-style illustration round here lately, so let's put that right. Here's a big sunshine burst of it from Koji Tomoto aka Cozy Tomato. I got one of his(?) postcard books in New York and very dinky it is too. The website is all in Japanese (apart from the intriguing "Welcome to Balls!" opening gambit) so no details, but the pictures are lovely. Have a look.
