Blog: Illustration

The Wonderful Work of Tad Carpenter


Big thanks to Tad Carpenter for his email and kind words about our blog.

You might remember some of Tad's work from the Grain Edit Giveaway - his illustrations are bold and bright with a good sprinkling of quirky, fun typography.

'HI' (above) is acrylic on wood, but much of his work is silk screened at Vahalla Studios - a business he shares with Dan Padavic producing gig posters and "other awesome silkscreen goodies".

Have a look at Tad's portfolio here, check out his blog, or stop by his online store which is packed full of his lovely prints.

Images copyright Tad Carpenter.

Lisa Jones Screen Prints


We are massive fans of Lisa Jones cards and illustrations, and were thrilled to see she is now doing screen prints (50 x 70cm) - 'Night Owl' and 'Town'.

They're available from Lisa Jones Studio, Elphicks and our favourite local gallery, Castor + Pollux.

See more Lisa Jones work here.

Images copyright Lisa Jones.

Illustrator Paul Thurlby


Paul Thurlby is a Buckinghamshire based, freelance illustrator. He's got loads of great work in his portfolio all with a slightly vintage/retro feel.

This alphabet has to be my favourite set - I love the colour combos on the E and F, especially the bright red on the lion.


See the more of the alphabet and of Paul's work here.

Images copyright Paul Thurlby.

Mon 16 Mar 2009

Posted under: Design , Typography , Illustration

3 Comments

Charley Harper's Studio


I just came across these fantastic images of illustrator Charley Harper in his Cincinnati home/studio. They were taken by designer, printmaker and journalist Harmen Liemburg when he visited Harper in 2006.

Harper's illustration style was clean and minimal. His work can easily be recognised by the simplistic forms of nature and wildlife, so I was absolutely shocked when I saw how packed and untidy his studio was!


I love the little details in these images that give a little glimpse into his life at 84 - the electric typewriter on the desk even though this was only 3 years ago, the dried up leaves taped onto the wall for reference and most of all his cat nestled amongst the piles of his work.

More posts about Charley Harper's work can be found here, here and here.

Images copyright Harmen Liemburg.
Via Woodward Design.

Fri 13 Mar 2009

Posted under: Inspiration , Illustration

3 Comments

A Very Smart Young Man


Look what we treated ourselves to at the weekend! A lovely framed Jonny Hannah linocut of 'A Very Smart Young Man' from the equally lovely Castor + Pollux.

They've got a great selection of his new prints in stock at the moment, which are definitely worth checking out, but this is an old favourite that we've had our eye on for a while. Finally it's ours smile

Vintage Polish Jam Labels


I love this collection of vintage Polish jam labels I found over on Pan Tu Nie Stał.

These are my favourites, it's the simple illustrations, big bold type and bright colours - a winning combo that does it everytime!



Images copyright Pan Tu Nie Stał.

Jauna Gaita Covers


I love it when you turn on your computer in the morning and are immediately confronted by great design that you haven’t seen before and that is exactly what happened the when I read Sell!Sell!’s post about Jauna Gaita and it’s fantastic cover designs.

Jauna Gaita (The New Course) is a quarterly, Latvian journal for culture and free thought, first published in 1955 and still going strong today.

It’s covers, many designed by Ilmars Rumpeters, are perfect examples of my favourite kind of vintage design - fresh and bright with a definite modernist influence.


The ones I’ve shown above are only the tip of the iceberg – the full back catalogue can be seen here.

Images copyright Jauna Gaita.

Andy Smith Book Covers


We're big fans of illustrator Andy Smith's work, so when he added us as a new contact on Flickr we had a good old snoop around his photostream and look what we found - a fantastic collection of all the book covers he's designed.


There's quite a few and they make a great set, bursting with bold colours and fun type - these are just a few of my favourites.

All images copyright Andy Smith.

Tue 17 Feb 2009

Posted under: Design , Typography , Illustration , Books

1 Comment

The Indoor Noisy Book


I just saw this gorgeous little book on Etsy, 'The Indoor Noisy Book' written by Margaret Wise Brown in 1942 and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard.

It's a story about a dog called Muffin that has to stay in all day with a cold and hears all kinds of strange noises. The illustrations are fabulous - detailed, yet bold and bright and there's even a bit of beautiful, big typography!

There are also some copies here and a re-printed edition available here from 1994.

Images from WhimseyHouse.

Tue 03 Feb 2009

Posted under: Design , Typography , Illustration , Books

1 Comment

Alphabirds



How great are these bird images by Dust Breeding's, Marcus Fischer?

They are created with Letraset transfers - finally I hear you shout, a use for all those half used sheets gathering dust in design studios across the world.

I imagine they take quite a while to produce as they're very detailed, but I hope he does more, it would be great to see a whole collection of them.

Images copyright Marcu s Fischer.
Via Notcot.

Tue 27 Jan 2009

Posted under: Design , Typography , Illustration

3 Comments

From the reference box #31




# 31 - Do It Yourself Annuals, 1959, 1960 & 1961. I really bought these for the bold graphic covers, but as usual, they are packed with wonderful adverts, articles, illustrations and type:







The '60 and '61 issues also have ads in for the new, DIY Gardener Annual which looks to have had equally great cover designs. I'll have to watch out for one of those.

So there we have it, #31 - DIY Annuals, 1959, 1960 & 1961.

Space Travel Guide


I wish this was in my reference box! I found it on Ebay yesterday but unfortunately it has a buy-it-now of $99.99 (£73.15) which is a little steep, even though it would be a great addition to my vintage moving dial collection.

It's a Space Travel Guide from 1958. It must have been a free giveaway with something and has an ad for Dellwood Milk & Dairy Products on the reverse. However, it's the dial I love - the wheel turns to reveal each planet one at a time, giving it's relative size and diameter compared to Earth. The illustrations are great too with really bold and vibrant colours.

Hopefully I'll find a much cheaper version at a boot sale some time soon!

Images from Ebay auction - copyright Designartistic.

Mon 26 Jan 2009

Posted under: Ephemera , Inspiration , Illustration

3 Comments

Winter Works on Paper


These gorgeous prints are reproduction NY Subway destination scrolls c. 1940. I found them on Winter works on Paper, a great website that has some really unusual, original and reproduction, prints and photography.

Photographer Don Dudenbostel's x-ray pics are definitely worth a look. His collection includes some really beautiful flowers, some sealife and of course, my favourites - the toys.


And here's something you don't see everyday - Japanese woodblock prints of Kimono designs from the 1900's. i think they are actually reproductions, but still very beautiful.

Images copyright to the artists, from Winter Works on Paper.

Aesthetic Apparatus at Richard Goodhall Gallery


Hello and welcome back, hope you all had a great holiday!

While I was up North over the holiday season, I took the opportunity to drop in to the Richard Goodhall Gallery in Manchester. They always have a superb selection of gig posters, limited editions prints and photography and it's become a bit of a tradition to treat myself to one.

This year they had some really great Aesthetic Apparatus prints on display from their Doomdrips series. They're bright and bold - perfect to get me motivated for the New Year. I bought the fist one (above centre) for only £25! Can't wait to get it framed and on the wall.

Images copyright Aesthetic Apparatus.

24 Delicious Days of Advent - #18


No.18 is The Giant Golden Book of Biology: An introduction to the Science of Life, illustrated by the wonderful Charley Harper in 1961.


I have only ever seen this book on design blogs, but the illustrations and colours look fantastic. These images are from Grain Edits Flickr group which has loads of great pics from the book.

I would love to own it! Copies do come up on Ebay quite often and there are always some for sale here, but at prices from $599 it's a serious purchase, so I'm still hoping to find a copy at a boot sale!

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Welcome to the Delicious Industries blog. We're an independent design studio based in Brighton, UK and this is our scrapbook packed full of design, illustration, photography & typography inspiration. Check out our work here.

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