Blue Print Archives - Retro to Go

With the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain happening this year, here's another piece of art linked to the festival. This Towards a New Britain print by Blue Print uses the Abram Games designed emblem of the Festival and sets it behind the outlines of a hopeful looking couple – perhaps studying the future promised by the festival.

It's just one of several prints produced by the artist Donald Short which relate to the Festival (you may remember his work from the Metroland print we featured a little while back). The distinctive colouring is made by using the cyanotype process – the blue print of architectural designs.

Produced as a limited edition of 100 copies, the print costs £35.

Buy it from Culturelabel

Though perhaps not the most fashionable subject matter, Metroland is celebrated in this blue print by Donald Short.

Used to refer to the suburban areas to the north west of London served by the Metropolitan railway, the detached house used as a repeat in a print is typical of the housing built in such Metroland areas – often criticised for being too similar to each other and, well, a bit boring.

It's livened up a bit here by using the cyanotype process that was commonly used to reproduce architectural plans or, in other words, the blueprint.

A signed edition of 100, each print costs £30.

Buy it from Culturelabel