31/08/10 – The cover for Agatha Christie’s Death comes as an end is an example of a standard Penguin crime title from the 1950s. The simple (and now classic) design belies the force of its impact and the finesse and sophistication of its layout. (more…)
24/08/10 – A second selection of matchbox labels produced by the Solo match factory in Lipnik, Czechoslovakia, on the occasion of the National Spartakiad held in 1960. The text, “Nacvicujte s nami,” translates as, “Train with us.” (more…)
30/07/10 – National Spartakiad matchbox label designs from Czechoslovakia circa 1959. The Spartakiads were mass sporting competitions created by the Soviet Union originally meant as an alternative to the Olympic movement. Competitions took place either in the summer or winter and brought together competitors on regional, national and international levels. (more…)
27/07/10 – Teak and limba wood toy monkey with articulated joints designed and produced by Kay Bojesen and his workshop in Denmark c. 1951. Available today complete with Henri Rousseau themed packaging through Rosendhal.
19/07/10 – Series of 13 postage stamps from Czechoslovakia designed by Jaroslav Lukavsky featuring traditional Czech and Slovak folk motifs and architecture. (more…)
16/07/10 – Matchbox label series from 1959 for the Czecho-Slovak Red Cross. Messages include such wise adages as: “Alcoholism ruins society.” “Play safe!” “Keep your town clean.” and “Respiratory exams catch TB early.” (more…)
12/07/10 – Illustration by Aldo Rossi from the exhibition ‘La conica’ e altre caffettiere held September 8-11, 1984 in Milan. (more…)
5/07/10 – Series of twelve stamps with floral motifs issued in 1972 in Czechoslovakia. Original artwork by Ivan Strnad translated into postage stamp format by well known engravers Josef Hercik and Milos Ondracek. (more…)
![The painted desert, Arizona [P.D. 29]](http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4010/4676085892_dc379cf92f.jpg)
18/06/10 – Small selection of desert-themed postcards from the 1930s and 1940s. All feature the Arizona desert, have a ‘linen-finish’ and are marked: ‘C.T. Art Colortone’. Postcard pictured above entitled: The Painted Desert, Arizona [P.D. 29] (more…)
07/06/10 – A selection of architectural photographs from a recent, and unfortunately very brief, visit to Chicago. (more…)
26/05/10 – Series of matchbox labels advertising hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes in Prague, Czechoslovakia dating from 1968. (more…)
![Avenue of Flags, Chicago World's Fair [WF-50]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3074/4553204057_eecb273f47.jpg)
27/04/10 – A small selection of ‘linen-finish’ postcards from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933. All cards printed by Curt Teich & Co., Inc., Chicago, and marked ‘Art-Colortone’. (more…)
19/04/10 – Third installment of 1960s & 1970s Scandinavian design logos on Flickr//. The collection features the logos and trademarks of furniture, textile, glass, ceramic and general housewares manufacturers. (more…)
Teak ice bucket designed by Jens Quistgaard for Dansk Designs Denmark (1960). Base marked: Dansk Designs Denmark JHQ. Dimensions: 19.25″ x 9.25″
25/03/10 – In his book, The forms of colour, Karl Gerstner examines the interactions of colour and form. The book begins with an analysis of existing graphical colour spaces and the advantages, as Gerstner sees them, of the ‘uniform colour space’ (UCS) developed by Günter Wyszecki. He then goes on to examine form systems, i.e., developments in geometry since Euclid, including perspective, topologies and fractals. (more…)
22/03/10 – A small selection from the 1,836 examples outlined in C.P. Hornung’s Handbook of designs and devices (1946): (more…)
16/03/10 – A selection of excerpts from the second edition of Eric Gill’s An Essay on Typography (1936). Gill’s frequent use of the ampersand (&) retained throughout.
The Theme
Even if a man’s whole day be spent as a servant of an industrial concern, in his spare time he will make something, if only a window box flower garden. (i)
The application of these principles [i.e., the the industrial and the 'humane'] to the making of letters and the making of books is the special business of this book. (ii) (more…)
28/03/10 – Between 1965 and 1966, New York book publisher George Braziller published a six volume series under the title Vision + Value. (more…)
15/01/10 – A selection of excerpts from Moholy-Nagy’s The New Vision (1938).
Foreword
The New Vision was written to inform laymen and artists about the basic elements of the Bauhaus education: the merging of theory and practice in design. (5) (more…)
27/11/09 – A selection of diagrams and information graphics from Bauhaus publications by Gropius, Itten, Kandinsky , Klee, Moholy-Nagy, Schlemmer, et al. (more…)