Three heads are better than one!

My vintage scarf inspired these little cuties. When wearing the scarf one day with red lipstick (as you do) my Dad remarked that I looked like a Russian Doll. One thing led to another and I started working on the design.

After some research I drew the image in Illustrator. I needed to keep it simple to suit the die-stamping process and the small image size when printed on a correspondence card.

An earlier version of the Illustrator Drawing

But, the illustration really came to life when die-stamped from an engraved die in my favourite colours - gold, red and blue. Available to buy from Mount Street Printers (£13.95 for a pack of 10 with tissue lined envelopes).

The finished correspondence cards with blue tissue lined envelopes

If you are big into the Russian Doll theme check out Hazel Nicholl's designs on her blog  http://hazelnicholls.blogspot.com/  She has prints and cotton totes printed with a Russian Doll - I love the wording that accompanies her doll "Its whats inside that counts".

You say Steinberg, I say Steinway...

Saul Steinberg - various drawings

I was very excited when I got to design a jazz inspired invitation last week. My client had requested a moody image featuring a pianist. Later, just as I was knee deep in atmospheric, smoky shots of jazz musicians and blue note covers they decided to change tack and use a line drawing, suggesting maybe a Steinberg? and I scoffed, don't you mean "Steinway"?...No! they meant the famous, and very cool illustrator Saul Steinberg. (Incidentally the Steinway piano brand started out as Steinweg...just to confuse us even further).

A quick google search revealed one of those artists that some how seeps into your brain without you even knowing it. I was immediately reminded of the doodles my Dad loves to do of men with strange shaped heads. And, in particular I remembered the electrifying day when he drew a moustache and glasses, in blue biro, directly onto my three year old sister's face. You know the type of moustache and glasses you draw on po-faced politicians, or glamorous women in the Sunday newspapers. I remember feeling terrified but thrilled at the possibility that maybe he had made a terrible error of judgement. Kate seemed to enjoy it at the time, but I think it was one of those seminal moments in her life which eventually led her down the path of makeup artistry. My mother was not present for this particular moment of madness, you only have to turn your back for one minute, and before you know it your toddler has an avant-garde tattoo of a moustache and glasses on their face...

Saul Steinberg 1944 - Kate's Revenge?

I couldn't find a Steinberg piano player (although I'm sure he must have drawn one at least once!), so here's my attempt. Not a patch on the real thing, but if you squint your eyes and look from a distance it might fool you for a second. It turns out it's really hard to achieve a fluid, spontaneous, minimalist drawing, that at first glance appears quite naive, but on closer inspection reveals that it was actually informed by years of studying and observing form, shape, line and human nuance. Who'd have thunk it!

Jazz Pianist, after Steinberg

Among other things, Steinberg was famous for his illustrations in the New Yorker. I have acquired a quantity of old New Yorkers from the late 40s, which I am going through at the moment. They are fit to bursting with wonderful illustrations and cartoons by various artists. I will post them here soon.

For more information on Saul Steinberg visit this site:
http://www.saulsteinbergfoundation.org/life_work.html

Delectable Things That Bring Me Cheer! No.2

 

I have been very disappointed with chocolate lately. Even my Leonidas Easter Egg was lacking. So imagine my joy when someone produced this box of chocolates at work one day - a present from a very kind benefactor with impeccable taste. The beautiful box was full of chocolate promise, but I had been down that road before, with a beautiful tin from Carluccio's which turned out to contain acrid cherry liquors. This time the promise was fulfilled. The box pictured above was filled (for a very short time) with three tiers of the most joyful, melt in the mouth chocolates. Small, bite size morsels with subtle and divine flavour.

We knew the box hailed from Vienna. A little google investigation found that the Demel Café and Bakery in Vienna was a connoisseur secret. I believe the pictures below are of Demel - you never can tell with the internet, nevertheless, they conjure up the idea perfectly. The Demel shop in Kohlmarkt was founded by Ludwig Dehne in 1786. I imagine a visit to Demel must be very atmospheric, starting with a large glass window containing a display to rival Juliette Binoche's Easter window in "Chocolat". With architecture and decor steeped in the Baroque style preserved over the centuries and the sweet aroma of pastries and chocolate filling the air - It's definitely being added to my travel wish-list.

And it is the gift that keeps on giving! As I got to keep the empty box afterwards. In true "Chocolate Box" style the quaint illustration on the front of the box pictures a perfect innocent world, the children in their Sunday best must be off to visit the Demel Shop for a special treat. Will they leave the dog behind? You can see he is a fan of Demel too! The pale blue is reminiscent of Marie Antoinette and Tiffanys, both icons of luxury. But my favourite element of the box has got to be the repeat pattern with the Demel logo lining the box, there is something so pleasing about the simplicity of the hand drawn script.

Interestingly until 1965, Demel was involved in a drawn-out legal battle with the Sacher about the origins of the Sachertorte, as both claimed it started in their pastry kitchens. The legendary hotel won, though Demel still sells its own version. Apparently the Sacher torte has a thin layer of apricot jam in the center, while Demel’s has its right underneath the dark-chocolate glaze. Quite frankly, I'd be happy with either...

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String

My new correspondence card designs have hit the shelves at Meticulous Ink! The range features five designs letterpress printed onto luxurious cotton rich paper at the Met Ink HQ in Bath. Featuring a limited colour pallet of dusty sky blue and coral red. Packaged in brown paper boxes foil stamped with the Meticulous Ink logo, each box contains eight cards of one design with envelopes lined in red and blue tissue (four of each tissue per box - chose a lining on a whim). The motifs illustrate some of my favourite things; Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, The Ubiquitous Little-Red-Number, Jet Setting, Playing Your Cards Right (or keeping them close to your chest!!), and no range would be complete without the Cherry On Top! I'm working on a new range right now - watch this space!

Available to buy at Meticulous Ink now!
info@meticulousink.com   01225 333 004  www.meticulousink.com

Xocolatl - An Epicurean Delight

 

Apologies to Jesus, but my favourite things about Easter are the ubiquitous little fluffy chicks that suddenly appear and multiply (presumably made by elves in the Easter version of Lapland) and of course my favourite thing all year round, but especially when egg shaped - CHOCOLATE!

Like all the best things, chocolate was introduced to Europe in the 16th Century through carnage, bloodshed and ruthless exploitation. It’s first incarnation, a sacred Aztec drink called xocolatl, was ‘discovered’ by Columbus. But the bitter, scummy and peppery drink had been intensely disliked by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, so it never made it past the first round of auditions. Luckily for us, Hernando Cortés thought it a product worth pursuing and modified the mixture with sugar and vanilla making it more palatable and wowing the Spanish court.

At first it was very expensive, the reserve of aristocrats, and not universally liked. One critic proclaimed the mixture of cocoa beans, sugar, cinnamon, red pepper, cloves, fennel and aniseed a “wash fitter for hogs” - and he might well have been right! But xocolatl was here to stay and went through various modifications as it traveled from Spain to Vienna, then onto France and England before reaching it’s current well-loved status and Milton Hershey’s vision of the “snack of the future”. Boy, am I glad I'm living in the future...

My favourite chocolate experiences are:

• A cup of extra thick hot chocolate at cafe chain Apostrophe, I like to pretend it's close to the Aztec original, which if course it isn't. But, it is delicious and really thick!
• Visiting Selfridges chocolate section beside the food hall, the moving conch display at Artisan du Chocolate is worth starting with, to get your mouth watering...Other notables are the Maison du Chocolate stand, good old Godiva and those round boxes of champagne truffles from Charbonnel et Walker.
• Bags of broken Easter egg from Leonidas after Easter weekend - for some reason it tastes even better than the intact egg (I always get both - just to be sure).
• Leonidas's cherry liquor - literally a whole Cherry (with stalk and stone) infused with cherry liquor and all enrobed in dark chocolate. Truly divine!
• The Film 'Chocolat' with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp.

For further reading on this subject I highly recommend “The Connoisseur’s Guide to Chocolate” by Chantal Coady, where I gleaned most of the information for this post. It features lots of interesting facts about the history and production of chocolate as well as a directory of the best chocolate makers in the world.

Delectable Things That Bring Me Cheer!

This will be an ongoing series, as I have a bit of a thing for delectable things and regularly buy them on a whim. No. 1 in the series is this tin of White Tuna in Olive Oil that I found in Waitrose. I think what really drew me in was the way it was displayed; tins of varying sizes stacked together, with some turned on their side, like a good old fashioned 1950s grocery store. There is something lovely about lots of the same thing stacked together in a pleasing arrangement - which harks back to my earlier post "Tidy Up Time" about things arranged neatly...(there is a bit of a theme emerging here!)

The good thing is, it will keep while I mull over what to do with it - I'm thinking a nice Tuna Nicoise Salad...

Mad Days

 

I have been working on a Mad Men themed invite this week. The wonderful Mo, a friend of Mount Street Printers, lent me these great original Lucky Strike adverts to scan in. I am waiting for my order of Mad Men series 4 to arrive from Amazon at the end of the month, and I am so looking forward to it! I might take up drinking scotch, but I think I'll leave the cigarettes.

Happy St Patrick's Day!

I designed this snake to wrap around the existing Zuma logo a few months ago. The client came in with the idea after being inspired by Google's themed logos on their home page. It was die-stamped in green, gold and red at the top of an invitation to a jungle themed party. Very fitting for St Patrick's Day too!

St. Patrick’s Day Greetings from Ryantown

“You can do a lot with a small brain” is a sentiment that simultaneously makes me smile and gives me solace. Wise words make a healthy appearance in prolific artist, Rob Ryan’s work; who is known for his intricate paper-cut art. It is an art famed for it’s intense skill and patience; hours of painstaking cutting, hunched over a table, scalpel blades aplenty. And yet, Rob’s work is still infused with a wonderful sense of spontaneity, and playfulness. Rob’s hand-holding, ladder-climbing lovers remind me of the scene in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, when Holly Go Lightly suggests they spend the day “doing things they have never done before!”. Which culminates with Holly and her young gigolo friend having a rare old time, running down the street wearing cat masks stolen from the five & dime store.

I have long been a fan of Rob’s and nearly fell off my seat when he called me at work one day to enquire about bespoke envelopes with printed lining paper for one of his VIP clients. With a few of these envelope orders now under our belts I am very pleased to have made it onto Rob’s St. Patrick’s Day list! Above is this years offering and below is last years. I am planning on putting my small brain to work and framing them - but the problem is they are so lovely inside and out! What is a girl to do!? but, add them to box 59 in a series of 200, containing beautiful printed ephemera...

Follow this link to Rob’s blog where you can read an eloquent account of his love for the paper-cut art form. And, there really is nothing better than hanging out on Columbia Road of a Sunday and having a peek inside Rob’s shop, Ryantown.

"The sea oh the sea, Gradh Geal Mo Croide*. Long my it flow between England and me.

Pity the Scotsman, he'll never be free. But we're surrounded entirely by water"

*"Great Joy of My Heart"

Blood, Sweat and Golden Ink

As well as designing and typesetting, I spend part of my day advising clients on the technicalities and limitations of printing. Which, depending on the client or project, can sometimes get quite complex. Calligrapher, Paul Antonio’s projects usually gravitate towards the feat-of-engineering-spectrum of print. He never fails to surprise me with the crazy things he wants to get on paper.

The execution of the above invite was a collaborative effort between three companies. Paul Antonio (design and calligraphy), Cutture (intricate laser cutting) and Mount Street Printers (gold die-stamped text). Read more about the creative and technical processes from Paul’s perspective here.

Like all good invites, the party, hosted by Javier and Tony at By Appointment Only Design, lived up to everyone's expectations!


Read all about the party at Annabel Beeforth's wedding blog Love My Dress.

A Belated Post in Honour of International Women's Day

I love these regal statues I found in a park in Ville-Franche-sur-Mer last year. I admire their poise, strength and defiant stance. The pictures were taken with the Hipstamatic app on my iphone.

I like the free, fresh wind in my hair, life without care...

I love living in London. I like the hustle and bustle; the Dickensian grime; the cacophony of noises; the barrage of smells; I love London, warts and all.

But the one thing I really miss, is the sea.

And while the sea in Dublin is alright, give me the sea in the South of France any day! When looking wistfully at the latest Stella Artois poster on a tube platform, I was reminded of these photos I had taken on my last trip. Just imagine the sound of waves lapping against the shore, the clinking of boats and tucking into some huge, fresh gambas! with a glass of pale pink Rosé ...Heaven!!

Tidy Up Time

Much to her chagrin, I used to coerce my sister into playing a childhood game of my own invention entitled "Tidy-Up-Time". I still have a tidying fetish, not so much the act of tidying, but the end result of basking in the neatness. A tendency which, in part, compelled me to pursue a career in graphic design; a profession hinged on the art of arranging images and words to convey a message. More often than not, in a neat manner.

Simply entitled Things Organized Neatly, this website is a haven for neat freaks everywhere. If you like neatness you will have hours of fun here. As my eye rests on each image I feel a lovely wave of calm wash over me...

Stationery with an "E"...

...as by its very nature - what with all that folding, posting, departing, arriving and being man-handled, dog eared, refolded, tea stained, paper clipped and shredded - it is far from stationary!

If dog eared letters are your thing you can spend hours of fun looking through the archive of letterheads at www.letterheady.com. Although their examples are often unused and unposted (but aged, from lying about in piles of papers at the back of a filing cabinet in some fabulously dusty store room somewhere, have I just contradicted my opening paragraph there?!). The about section reads "Letterheady is an online homage to offline correspondence; specifically letters...at Letterheady we don't care about the letter's content. Just its design." I think that's a pretty good premise for a blog, don't you?

Miss Haversham Eat Your Heart Out!

a rat curls up in a champagne glass - titled "Rest a Little on the Lap of Life"

When reading the Sunday Times Magazine last week I had occasion to wish (as I often do) that I had been given the task of styling a window display depicting Miss Haversham's wedding breakfast table. If it was the case, I would most definitely be calling upon the talents of Miss Polly Morgan.

I've never been a fan of small furry animals, but I am inexplicably drawn to her art. Maybe it's the bell jars, like the upturned glasses used to trap particularly scary spiders, in any event the threat of 'scurrying' has been removed. Morgan herself attests to the fact that she is seeking surreality rather than naturalism. She thinks "it would be a bit perverse to kill something so you could then try and make it look alive again!"

For Morgan there is a beauty in the fleeting transience of decay - "The beauty of decay has always appealed to me, but it isn't very easy to harness - this is a way of faking it." Like my previous post, here is an artist concerned with capturing a precious moment and freezing it in time.

www.pollymorgan.co.uk

Windows to the Soul

"Nothing is meant to last forever" is the bitter-sweet sentiment we hear from an old audio-tape recording of Vivian Maier's voice. And nothing could sum up the fleeting beauty of her candid shots more eloquently.

Vivian Maier is a previously undiscovered street photographer who was based in Chicago from the 1950s - 1990s. John Maloof stumbled across her treasure trove of images at an Auction. After falling in love with the images John has taken on the olympian task of archiving her work, which includes over 100,000 negatives, thousands of prints and countless undeveloped rolls of film.

You will find John Maloof's blog here http://vivianmaier.blogspot.com where I am very excited to see that, over the course of scanning her work, John discovered that Vivian traveled the world in 1959. Visiting and photographing places like Egypt, Bangkok, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, France, Italy and Indonesia.

You can pledge money to fund a book and documentary about Vivian here http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/800508197/finding-vivian-maier-a-feature-length-documentary

Thank you to my old school friend Karl Argue for posting the video below on Facebook.