Categories / Books, Design and Interiors

Just My Type by Simon Garfield

41aycKaXhBL__SS500_ 
If you share our obsession with typography, then the book “Just My Type” by Simon Garfield is a ‘must-read’.

Taken as a whole, the book provides an informative history of printing process, including mentions for retro favourites Letraset transfers and Dymo label makers. There is a chapter about music that includes the Beatles’ logo and Amy Winehouse’s use of a art deco style fonts, whilst a section on politics looks at how a font contributed to Obama’s election campaign, but also goes further back and close to home with information about the typeface favoured during the creation of the NHS. Between the main chapters, there are shorter sections, Font Breaks, which examine the history and use of individual fonts. I would have welcomed more on 60s counterculture design and the Punk aesthetic, about which more could have been said, but all in all, a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in the history of design.

Just My Type is available to buy on Amazon, currently priced just £7.99 for a suitably stylish hardback.

Categories / Design and Interiors

Chill Sofa range at Heal’s

Chillsofa_mMore mid-century style courtesy of the high street, this time the Chill Sofa range at Heal's

With its straight lines and boxy shape, it's got something of the look of the Florence Knoll sofa. This sofa is given a leather finish, including the luxurious sounding 'Suede soft' leather option. With a soft back, seat and arm cushions, it sounds like this is a design that will be comfortable as well as looking good. The look is finished off by the dark-stained wooden legs. 

The version of the sofa pictured costs £2995 or you can buy a smaller version for £2595. 

See it online

Categories / Design and Interiors

Oi Polloi Icons limited edition greetings cards

Card1

Manchester clothing hipsters Oi Polloi have teamed up with illustrator Ben Lamb to produce a limited edition range of greetings cards, going by the name of Icons.

Because that's exactly what they are – images of Icons – the first of which are Hunter S Thompson, Jack Nicholson as George Hanson in Easy Rider, and of course the King of Cool, Steve McQueen (pictured above).

The Cards are strictly limited and exclusive to Oi Polloi. printed on 100% recycled paper and sell for £2.50 each. See over the page for a shot of Hunter Thompson.

Find out more at the Oi Polloi website

Read more

Categories / Design and Interiors

Emma Dolan 20th-century design tea cups

Claricesq_450x450d
Admirers of the designers like Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper and Charles Rennie Mackintosh may want to investigate the work of Emma Dolan and her twentieth-century design tea cups.

Hand-crafted in Yorkshire, Emma recreates their designs using embroidery combined with traditional materials such as Harris tweed and Hainsworth felt. The result are stylish in their own right, such as the Clarice cup pictured which obviously references a Clarice Cliff design. 

Pieces are priced individually but, to give you an idea of price, the Clarice cup costs £160. 

Contact Emma to order through her website

Categories / Design and Interiors, Homeware

Tortie Hoare Leather and Walnut Desk

4ac25bb6224a02102d7882e86067071e16572707 
Tortie Hoare may have won Designer of the Year 2010, but her Leather and Walnut Desk looks like something decades older.

The leather creates a storage pouch at the end of the desk, and was created using the ancient technique of boiling leather. The desk is the perfect size for a laptop or simply a writing space. It is a limited edition piece of just 30, with each one handmade.

The desk costs £1,582 and can be ordered via My Deco.

Categories / Design and Interiors

Sentou Edition 1950s-style Lalinde side table

Lalinde

No, this isn't (as far as we know) a vintage design, the Sentou Edition Lalinde side table is inspired by, rather than reissued from, the 1950s.

Love those tapered, midcentury-style angled legs, as well as the bold colours on the lacquered surface, which is available in 'round' or 'bean'. If you fancy something toned down, there's also a natural wood finish in the range.

Available online, prices start at £153.

Find out more at the Made in Design website