Archive for “Design”

We’re big fans of maps and here are some more from our beautifully crafted collection – London, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

At the start of the year we collaborated on some Christmas 2010 ideas with Waitrose. A handful of typographers and illustrators were asked to create lettering for their festive campaign. Here are some preview pics of the serendipitous mix.

Mini Moderns stunning designs stood out. The folk rock collection of wallpaper and cushions includes their ‘pet sounds’ design – which uses graphics of woodland animals along with musical instruments in a woodblock style. Forget the funky chicken, we’re digging the badger!

Emma’s thought provoking ceramics are cleverly designed to engage you with your cuppa! We also loved her ‘Everyday’ range of hand thrown pieces –  the bumpy, ridges under a matt coated glaze sets them apart from mass produced ceramics.

Pulse is an annual showcase for innovative designers to exhibit their latest work. We came across some beautiful designs at the show. Among many others, Elsie Dodds graphic alphabet cushions really stood out. Designed to stimulate children’s imagination using bright colours and fun graphics!

more goodies to follow….

Blogging has taken a back seat… we haven’t been sitting on our derriéres though, oh no, we’ve been working away behind the scenes. Below are a couple of new designs for a Tarquin Hall book series.

While we’re on the subject of books, our very own Monsieur Wardle has been asked to speak at the 2010 Bookseller Cover Design Conference in Bloomsbury, London next month. Although he still classes his profession as ‘a penchant for colouring in’ apparently he is actually “the creme de la creme of Britain’s book designers” at least that’s what the advert says!

Thought you might like to see these bright beauties! We were commissioned by Paris design store {the collection} to create a set of retro tea towels. It was fun, we came up with all sorts of ideas, shapes, colours and they settled on these. We’ve road tested them on our twentieth century saucepans and they’re doing a great job. For tea towels and other exquisite goodies check out their website www.thecollection.fr

Jane Smallcombe is a creative whizz with a needle and thread. We recently designed her logo and some gift cards for her online boutique ‘Applique Originals’ which sells one-off handcrafted accessories. They’re complete gems and very reasonably priced too. She’s just been picked for a solo exhibition at the Mushroom Works Gallery in Newcastle which will be worth a visit if you’re up that way at Easter. Go girl!

Here is one of our new cover designs. ‘Smile or Die: How Positive Thinking Fooled America and the World’ is creating a bit of a buzz in the media at the moment and you might have seen it on Newsnight last week. We’ll leave you to decide which camp you’re in.

I like the humorous and innovative ideas that are coming out of the Konstantin Slawinski design group. Designers often favour the austere, so it it great to see classic designs that combine a bit of wit – the ‘Mother in law’ cake mould is a winner.