Mix Tape Engraved Illustration

The design duo, Uncommon, describe their style as a mixture of modern clean lines and old-fashioned sensibility. Their home accents range includes a small selection of engraved illustrations which tend towards a retro style and this Mix Tape Engrave Illustration particularly caught my attention.

It is a framed engraved panel made from fibreboard, measuring 10 inches by 15 inches. There is a delightful little background story to the illustration given in the description, about finding it behind a wall in their home, which just adds to the character of the piece. The Mix Top Illustration is available in a choice of ash grey or antique blue, both costing $25 (around £15). International shipping is available.

Buy online via their Etsy store.

eBay watch: Alan Fletcher 1960s Maze art work

We've featured the work of Alan Fletcher previously, and for those of you who don't know he is one of the most influential figures in British graphic design, so much so that he had a retrospective at the Design Museum in 2006/7. This art work Maze is a chance for you to own what could be a unique piece.

This rare piece features a large maze design printed on 1mm alumnium sheet with fine metallic lines creating the maze pattern, and mirrored black background. It says on the piece that it was designed by Alan Fletcher of Fletcher/Forbes/Crosby (which later became Pentagram).

The work is on eBay and is a sized at 51 x 51cm and is good condition and is available for a buy it now price of £350, although it is also possible to make an offer so you never know you might get it a bit cheaper.

See more details at the eBay website

Via Switched On Art

Pete McKee mod-inspired artwork

If you're after something cool, stylish and with more than a hint of mod inspiration for your walls, check out Pete McKee's mod-inspired artwork, which is available to buy on his site.

Sheffield lad McKee has recently done the tour artwork for Oasis and even if you're not a fan of the band, there's every chance you'll appreciate the rather hip graphics above.

The Oasis is available to buy as a special edition at £190 unframed or £240 framed, but if you want something a little more affordable, other unlimited prints are available for around the £20 mark. Check out the website to view them all.

Find out more at the Pete McKee website

Via Modculture

Belle & Boo kids illustrations

The style and feel of the Belle & Boo illustrations made me think it was a lost childhood series that I'd somehow missed out on while growing up. In fact they are a modern creation, drawn by Mandy Sutcliffe. Her style deliberately references old children's illustrations portraying very innocent, timeless snapshots of the world. 

The illustrations are available across a wide range of products, from greeting cards to children's clothing. Pictured is Autumn from the My Favourite Place set, typical of the Belle & Boo style. Each print in the set shows the retro-dressed girl sitting contemplatively in a tree from a different season of the year. The set of four framed costs £140 and would be a charming addition to any kids room.  

Buy it online

FAP See America posters

The Federal Art Project (FAP) was one of Roosevelt's New Deal schemes in Depression America, employing artists and designers to produce public art. They created a wide variety of works including a range of over 2000 posters between 1936 and 1943. These designs included the See America posters which used dramatic looking images of America's National Parks to promote travel and tourism. 

The image shown here is the work of Alexander Dux to advertise the Caves National Park. It's available to buy as a reproduction from the Library of Congress who have a large selection of the FAP posters for sale. Costs for the posters range from $28 to £48, depending on the size of the print. 

See it online

Leah Giberson's prints of mid-century homes

The stunning image above is part of Leah Giberson's Camulet series based on photographs of mid-century houses that she's found through Flickr. Her original medium is paint but she also sells limited edition giclee prints of each piece. This print is part of an edition of 100, costs $30 and is printed on paper approximately 28 x 22cm. 

She also has produced series of images based on chairs and swimming pools. Like the image pictured, they show apparently unpopulated landscapes and portray a very evocative slice of Americana. 

See her work online

Darling Clementine 1970s notebooks and greetings cards

Not just cute, but authentically 1970s - that's what you get when you buy these Darling Clementine notebooks and greetings cards.

The designs were produced by Darling Clementine back in 1973, but still remarkably contemporary (and indeed eye-catching) 36 years later, which makes them pretty much perfect for a greetings card. Or if you haven't got any birthdays on the horizon, there are notebooks too with the same bold designs on the outside, but with 96 sheets of blank paper (so you can draw your own) on the inside.

Check out all the designs via the website, with prces at £2.19 for a card, £4.49 for a notebook.

Find out more at the Papergrain website

V&A Pattern books

The V&A Museum are launching the V&A Pattern books, a chance to look a bit closer at aspects of the museum's fantastic collection. There are four books in this initial release and each book features 65 patterns that have been found across a range of materials in the museum – such as wallpapers, designs and textiles – grouped around a different theme. The themes are quite diverse. The first two books tackle William Morris and Indian Florals (both quite self explanatory), the third looks at fifties designs (lots of Lucienne Day, Marion Mahler and Sylvia Chalmers) and finally Digital Pioneers features interesting examples of early explorations into creating computer generated patterns. Each book features a curator penned introduction to the topic. 

At £7.99, they are a great small gift but, as each book also contains a CD of the images, they could also be used for design inspiration. There is also a limited edition box set available featuring all four titles for £30. 

See them online

Meet David Bailey at the Olympus EP-1 camera launch in London

To say we were blown away by the Olympus EP-1 Micro Four Thirds camera is an understatement, a mix of high-end technology and old school looks, it's the camera we really want to own this summer. If you want to get up close and personal with one, you can do so at Jessops in central London - and meet David Bailey as an added incentive.

Some versions of the retro-styled camera will be on sale on the night, while others can be pre-ordered so you get one as soon as they land. If you do pre-order, Jessops is apparently giving away a free 'Cross' pen to the first 50. we've no idea what that is but it's apparently worth £300. And of course, you can get tips off the coolest photographer in the history of the world too.

If you can't get to the Jessops New Oxford Street branch on 25th June at 6pm, the full range of EP-1 cameras has just gone online, you can check them out (and prices) via the link below. Alternatively, see over the page for the classic David Bailey Olympus ad from the 1970s - we just couldn't resist putting it up.

Find out more at the Jessops website

Lomo LC-A camera is 25 years old - and gets discounted for a day

The first-ever Lomo camera is 25 years old and to celebrate, you can pick up the Lomo LC-A on the cheap for one day only.

First produced in the (then) Soviet Union in 1984, it was designed as a workhouse' camera for everyday photography, complete with the iconic Minitar 1 lens for vivid, wide angle images and auto exposure for great snaps in all light. it was the camera that led to the Lomographic Society and the rest, as they say, is history.

The camera is still being made as an almost perfect replica (in China) and you can buy one on Friday 19th June with a 25 per cent discount. That means the £234 asking price for the basic model should drop to something like £175 tomorrow. Also that day, there's 10 per cent off everything in the Lomo online shop - but only for the day.

Lomography website