70's Hungarian Stamp

How cool is the tree illustration on this Hungarian stamp from 1975. The red and green print works really well against the neutral background and I love it when the overprint is visible.

I think the illustrator is Olah Gyorgy (bottom right on the stamp), although all I can find out about him was that he was a Hungarian, Nobel-prize winning Chemist - so maybe he isn't the illustrator??

See more of my favourite stamps here, here and here.

Borja Bonaque

I love these cityscapes by Spanish illustrator Borja Bonaque, there's something very Futurist about them, particularly the top one - maybe it's the darker colours.

I think it's great how simple blocks of colour create the skyscrapers and how the colour choice and texture of print work together giving the illusion of perspective.

See more of his work here.

Images copyright Borja Bonaque.
Via Sell! Sell!

Think of your own ideas

Think of your own ideas is a gorgeous new letterpressed poster from Anthony Burrhill, currently available from Soma Gallery along with a re-print of Is it ok for me to have everything I want...

Once again large type and blocks of colour rule!

Images copyright Soma Gallery.

The Colour of Money

I love these colour-in one dollar bills from Atypyk - not quite making you own money, but not far off! Such a simple, fun idea.

They come in packs of 100 for 9 Euro.

Images copyright Atypyk.
Via Inspire Me Now.

From the reference box #39

A cool Air Europe matchbook from the 70's - "It's nice to fly with friends."
Loving the red and orange combo, especially the stripes!

Have a look through the rest of our reference box here.

70's Posters

I came across the Montague Projects blog yesterday which is a great blog, packed full of inspiring design including this wonderful collection of 70's posters recovered from his parents basement. See the full collection here.

Images copyright Montague Projects Blog.

Damn Everything But The Circus

Sister Mary Corita Kent became a nun in the Order of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, LA in 1936. She first exhibited her work in the early 50's and became a prominent artist in the 60's often creating subversive and political pieces.

"I am not brave enough to not pay my income tax and risk going to jail. But I can say rather freely what I want to say with my art."

Damn Everything But The Circus was her 6th book and was published after she left the Order to pursue her love of art. The book is full of gorgeous large type and bright colours used to illustrate the inspirational quotes chosen by Corita which run throughout.






I've never seen this book or Corita's work before, but I'm hooked - I think it's fantastic. Those of you with cash burning a hole in your pockets might be interested to know that there's currently a copy available here.

Find out more about Sister Mary Corita Kent here.

Images copyright Watson Bookworks.
Via Hi + Low.

Happy St George's Day

Today in the UK it's St George's Day. St George is the dragon-slaying patron saint of England, remembered on this day every year.

And what better way to celebrate than with some of Martin Parr's photos showing England in a way only he can.

See a list of St George's Day events in London here.

All images copyright Martin Parr and Magnum Photos.

Your Portrait Drawn by Michel Gondry

Amongst the wonderful items available on Michel Gondry's website is the opportunity to have your portrait drawn and signed by the man himself.

Simply place your order, then email a pic of yourself and Gondry will personally draw your portrait and send it back to you within 6-8 weeks for only $19.95!

Via CR Blog.

The Cloudy Collection

The Cloudy Collection: Volume 1, Edition 1 is a great set of letterpressed prints with work from illustrators, Meg Hunt, Bill Fick, John Martz, Amy Crehore, Tom Kaczynski, Steven Weissman and David Huyck, all themed on Cloudy Characters.




The edition is limited to 100. Each set contains all seven, 4 x 6" prints for only $35 + $10 shipping to the UK (free shipping to US & Canada).

Images copyright The Cloudy Collection.
Via It's Nice That.

Fantastych Triptychs

Lord Bodner’s Octopus - taken from a copperplate engraving created by Lord Bodner in 1826


Caspari Horse - inspired by a photo of an aristocratic woman & her champion horse


Khefrie's Flamingo

Fantastych Triptychs is a range of photographs, scientific illustrations and silhouettes printed as large triptych giclée prints by Natural Curiosities, a Los Angeles based, trade-only retailer of educational prints.

These triptychs and many others will be part of a public sale on 25 April. Each one is $995 and comes with four of their beautiful Curiosity Boxes containing 14 nature themed prints

I love the contrast on the Caspari horse - definitely my favourite.

Images copyright Natural Curiosities.
Via Cool Hunting.

From the reference box #38

I love how the map graphics and colour coding have been used to create this funky cover. As you can see it's a Paris Metro & Autobus map from 1972.

Inside it has 3 maps; a metro map of the full region...

... an Autobus map of the central city...

... and a night Autobus map, again of the inner city area...

I also really like the unexpected use of the script font (used to mark the different areas within the city) it's a pleasant surprise.

All-in-all a nice little addition to the reference box. Have a delve in the box yourself here for a little Friday inspiration.

Le Corbusier at the Barbican

Le Corbusier (1887-1965) is my favourite architect ever, his buildings are stunning and still look modern, even though the one above was completed in 1931.

"His architecture and radical ideas for reinventing modern living, from private villas to large scale social housing to utopian urban plans, still resonate today".


Le Corbusier: The Art of Architecture is running at the Barbican Art Gallery until 24 May 2009 - it's a must-see and I can't wait to get down there and see it!

If you can't visit the exhibition there is more information about the life and work of this great architect here and here.

Images copyright Barbican Art Gallery.

Ampersand Marquee Light

How great is this fairground style light from Urban Outfitters?? I love it's quirkiness and the fact that it kind of looks homemade.

It's one of their Marquee Lights (they also do an @ sign) only available online with shipping restricted to mainland US. Unfortunately they don't seem to be listed on the UK site for some reason.

They should create a full alphabet in the same style, that would be really cool, although at $178 each it could get pricey to spell out anything!

Images copyright Urban Outfitters.
Via Hell Yeah Dude.

Paul Catherall Lino Prints

These architectural prints could easily be mistaken for vintage prints, but they are in fact the new works of illustrator Paul Catherall.

His prints are bold and striking and depict famous architectural structures from around the world in a very clean, precise way. His work is influenced by commercial art of the 50's and 60's which is probably why I like it so much.

"Catherall displays an expert eye for composition and colour; and great draughtsmanship, achieving ultimately a delicate balance between classic commercial design and contemporary urban landscape. His linocuts have become synonymous with Transport for London and Tate Modern."

The architectural prints are currently available at Castor + Pollux, Brighton and the London Transport posters are available here.

Images copyright Paul Catherall.

Type Nesting

I love Type Nesting - two of my favourite things, birds and type!

Dubi Kaufmann trawls the internet looking for photos of birds nesting in signs and posts them on Type Nesting in the hope of seeing a pattern and determining which letter they prefer.

To date it's the counters in capital A's and R's that seem more popular, but the cap B's aren't far behind.

Images fromType Nesting.
Via Swissmiss.

Happy Easter!

Here's a selection of our favourite 60s/70s chick and bunny graphics to get you in the Easter mood. Hope you all enjoy the long weekend - see you back here Tuesday!

Graphics from Trademarks & Symbols, Yasaburo Kuwayama and Trademarks of the 60s & 70s, Tyler Blik.

The Art of Necessity

There's an interesting article on the CR Blog about 'The Art of Necessity' - the ingenuity of Spanish printers in the early 1930's when avant-garde had spread through Europe into Spain.

The small print shops had to find ways of creating this new look with no new resources, so they imitated the style using the bullets, dingbats, rules and ornaments from their existing type trays and transformed them into new typefaces and illustrations creating the modern look of the avant-garde.

Read the full article here.

Images copyright CR Blog.