Blog: Things to buy

Stunning Eastern Design







Now normally I spend my book budget on out-of-print books, but this caught my eye the other day, "Stunning Eastern Design 1949 - 1989" by Ralf E Ulrich and Ernst Hedler and I just had to have it. It's published by Taschen as part of their 25th Anniversary collection, so a bargain at £7.99!

It's packed full of fantastic products and some really wonderful packaging. Above are some of my favourites; I particularly like the tablet boxes at the top - so clean and minimal with nice use of colour accross the range.

The products formed part of an exhibition in 1989, "SED - Schöchnes Einheitsdesign" at the Galerie Habernall, Dreieich, near Frankfurt giving an insight into the consumer culture of former East Germany. Unfortunately though after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the currency union many of these products could not compete in a worldwide market and fell by the wayside. Collections like this are the only places they can still be seen.

Images taken from the book and copyright Ernst Hedler.

Rob Ryan at Castor & Pollux


“Swirling, intricate bells, birds, trees and stars fill the prints and paper cuts of silhouetted lovers surrounded by floating poetry”

The Rob Ryan exhibition of screen prints, printed tiles and paper cuts started yesterday at Castor & Pollux and runs until 20 October.

Rob’s work is beautiful, intricate and sentimental. He’s created illustrations for Paul Smith, designed Christmas windows for Liberty’s of London and made paper-cut fashions for Vogue.

His work will be available to buy throughout the exhibition, but if you’re stuck in London at the weekends you can check out Rob’s work at Ryantown, his new shop in Columbia Road and for those of you not in the UK he also has an Etsy shop!

Image copyright Rob Ryan.

Rabbit Garbage Bags



How fab are these garbage (or rubbish) bags?? created to help prevent littering and encourage people to take their rubbish away with them. I love them - they're genius!

They are designed by Japanese company, MAQ Inc. and can be bought from Mottainai along with loads of other really cool bags for your rubbish. This rabbit one is by far the best though.

Via Trend Hunter.

Seven Hundred Penguins

There are some classic covers in this book, can't believe I haven't seen it before. Check out more here.

Via the super Sell Sell.

Wed 03 Sep 2008

Posted under: Design , Things to buy , Books

1 Comment

The Launch of the Pleasure Bus Tour


The Pleasure Bus Mobile Art Gallery and shop is heading to Art Vinyl, 13 Broadway Market, London on Wednesday 13 August, 5-10pm for Disco, Daftness, Doodling and free Corona!

There'll be limited edition prints, t-shirts and postcards to buy, so if you can't make this stop watch out for the next location.

Betty Crocker's Dinner for Two Cook Book

After discovering the work of Charley Harper a couple of weeks ago, the search was on for a cook book he illustrated in the late 50's, 'Betty Crocker's Dinner for Two'.

After trawling the internet I found a first edition, first printing (1958) copy on Ebay and yesterday it arrived. It is in mint condition and the illustrations are all I hoped they would be - simple, kitsch and very elegant!




It is also full of these wonderfully kitsch still life, food photographs which is a bonus!

Tue 12 Aug 2008

Posted under: Things to buy , Illustration , Books

4 Comments

Wall Letters


These metal letters from Urban Outfitters are fantastic. They are quite large at 6 x 10 x 1" and are available in some cool colours for only $14 each + postage. The have a built-in bracket on the reverse for hanging and the website says they come in different styles, although there is only one style shown.

Now I can find them on the US website, but not on the Uk site?? So maybe they are only available in Uk stores and not online?

You could always have a look in antique shops and on car boot sales to try and find some secondhand signage. Used letters generally have a nice patina which adds character, the only downside is that you can't always get the letters you want in the same style. Here are a couple of mine...

Mon 11 Aug 2008

Posted under: Typography , Things to buy , signage

0 Comments

Vintage Tube & Routemaster Signage


Pedlars is wonderful online shop, with an equally fabulous Notting Hill store. They sell prints, clothing, cool pieces of homeware and vintage paraphernalia. At the moment they have a great selection of vintage tube and Routemaster signs, which are definitely worth a look.

Now I love signs and they don't come much more iconic than the London underground signs - they are a classic piece of design. The ones above were used as temporary signage during maintenance works until about 30 years ago, but are now framed and ready to hang on your studio wall - now how cool would it be to own a genuine tube sign?

Likewise, the type on the old Routemaster bus signs was fantastic, so simple and classic looking. Now that the Routemasters are redundant, the familiar number & destination blinds have been rescued and given a new lease of life, framed or made into light boxes by the lovely people at Pedlars.

Images from the Pedlars online store.

Sat 02 Aug 2008

Posted under: Things to buy , signage

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Kids with Cameras




Kids with Cameras was founded by NY photographer Zana Briski in 2002 as a result of her work teaching photography to the children of Calcutta's red light district. She realised that photography ignited their imagination and helped to build their confidence - ultimately it had the power to transform their lives.

In 1997 Zana went to Calcutta to photograph the real lives of the prostitutes there. During her stay she became familiar with the children, and their interest in her camera inspired her to teach them photography to see the world through their eyes. From 2000 to 2003 she ran photography workshops teaching the children basic techniques and giving them a safe place to learn and enjoy themselves. The images produced where fantastic and gave a unique account of Bengali life. Kids with Cameras raises money and awareness for these children through print sales, world-wide exhibitions, film festivals and a book of their work, published in 2004.

The story of these children and their new found photography skills was documented by Zana and filmmaker, Ross Kauffman to create the film, 'Born into Brothels', which won 25 major awards including the 2005 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

To date, successful workshops have been developed in Jerusalem, Haiti and Cairo. For more information about the current projects, events and exhibitions or to buy prints of the children's images visit Kids with Cameras.

Images copyright Kids with Cameras.

Fri 01 Aug 2008

Posted under: Web , Photography , Things to buy

1 Comment

Charley Harper 1922 - 2007


I came across the fabulous work of the late illustrator, Charley Harper today and I can't believe I haven't seen it before!

Harper was born on a farm in West Virginia, which is said to have been the true inspiration behind his work. He later moved to Cincinnati where he studied, and later taught at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Many of his illustrations are of wildlife, and in particular birds, so it's no surprise he worked with many nature related organisations throughout his career, including the Cincinnati Zoo and the Everglades National Park. He also illustrated many books and is especially well known for his illustrations in, 'The Golden Book of Biology' and in, 'Betty Crocker Dinner for Two'

His modernist style creates simplistic, graphic images, that are colourful and bold. Harper summed up his style by saying, "When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don't see the feathers in the wings, I just count the wings. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behaviour and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures".

To see more of Charley Harper's work, checkout the 'Charley Harper Illustrations Fanclub' Flickr group, or have a look at the selection of limited edition prints for sale at Gallery One.

Image copyright Charley Harper.

Jeremyville in Brighton


'My Summer in Brighton', Jeremyville's first Brighton show, kicks off on 5 August and runs until 7 September at Castor & Pollux.

Jeremyville is an Australian illustrator/artist/animator who splits his time between his homeland and NY. He wrote and produced, 'Vinyl Will Kill', the first designer toy book in the World and has featured in more recent titles including,'Kidrobot' and 'Pictoplamsa'.

His unique illustrations are quirky and intriguing, there is always lots to look at and much attention to detail. Jeremyville has worked with clients such as Converse, Adidas, Coca-cola and MTV to name but a few, so to see his work in Brighton will be fantastic.

More fantastic though, is that he has produced a limited edition A2 screenprint to celebrate this show and his time in Brighton (above right). There are only 50 signed copies available which will go on sale 1 August for £60 each. To reserve your copy, email april@castorandpollux.co.uk

A selection of his prints and other merchandise are also available on his website.

Images copyright Jeremyville.

Bargain books!!

I always have a 'books I want' list on my computer, just in case someone wants to surprise me. Anyway, today I managed to buy 2 of them and for the grand total of £12.25!!

The first was, 'Leroy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960's and 1970's' by Steve Barilotti - reduced from £24.99 to £6.25, and the second was, 'Alison Jackson: Confidential' from Taschen - reduced from £24.99 to £6. The Grannis book has a small tear on the cover, but the Alison Jackson book was still sealed. So thanks to Pussy Home Boutique, Brighton for making my day smile

Blisters on my Fingers posters, now on-line!

As promised the very nice people over at Print Club have just put all the remaining posters from the weekends exhibition, 'Blisters on my Fingers' into their on-line shop for £35 each plus postage. There are some really nice ones left too including the ones above by Andy Smith, Seif Alhasani and Steve Wilson.

Print Club presents 'Blisters on my Fingers'



35 Illustrators. 35 Edition and hand signed prints. 35 Pounds each.

Blisters on my fingers runs from the 11th to 13th July 2008
at MC Motors, Millers Avenue off Arcola Street, Dalston, E8 2DS.

Friday night opening 6 to 10pm (Please RSVP)
Saturday 12 to 5pm - Afternoon Print off
Sunday 12 to 5pm - Closing show BBQ

Print Club is a water-based, screen printing club providing it's members with the facilities to produce their own screen prints. They have some amazing illustrators and designers as members including one of our favourite illustrators, Andy Smith (remember the 'I Pretend to Work poster'?) so it really should be a cracking show. Fingers crossed there will be some prints left to go in their shop for those of us that can't go!

Via Dirty Mouse.

I pretend to work


I saw this today whilst trawling blogs, instead of working and it made me smile! See more of Andy Smith's work here and buy prints here.

Image via A Smith Illustration.

Wed 09 Jul 2008

Posted under: Prints , Things to buy , Illustration

0 Comments

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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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