If you are interested in the history of plastic design, you'll want to pick up a copy of the newly-published Plastic Dreams: Synthetic Visions in Design by Charlotte and Peter Fiell.
From the creators of the excellent Scandinavian Design, Plastic Dreams celebrates plastic as a material, showing some of its finest works – from Bakelite in the 1920s to the icons of the modern era.
A colouring book for adults – and if you love trainers, you might just love The Sneaker Colouring Book by Daniel Jarosch and Henrik Klingel.
It's a collection of 100 black-and-white line drawings of popular designs, 100 of the most popular designs from 1916 to the present day from 18 major brands. The likes of Adidas, Converse, New Balance, Nike, Onitsuka Tiger, Puma, Reebok and Vans.
All the images are listed with brand, model name, launch date and category details, all are printed on high-quality paper and all are perforated so that a drawing can be removed once completed. Fancy it? Well, the book has just been introduced by Laurence King Publishing and is available via Amazon, discounted to £8.41.
Released today is Marnie Fogg's new book on 1950s Fashion Prints. Marnie Fogg is the author behind both the vintage handbags book and the one about Sixties fashion boutiques, while this volume is the sister volume to her book on 1960s fashion print.
It's intended to act as a source of inspiration for design students and practitioners and its 192 pages are jammed full of designs from the key figures of the time such as Lucienne Day and Robert Stewart, as well as key companies such as Marimekko. The designs are grouped thematically by topics that influenced the designs of the period such as the influence of artists on fabric designs or novelty patterns. There's plenty on its pages to inspire a Fifties design enthusiast as well as appeal to those with a more expert interest.
Reasonably priced too. You can buy it for £12.99 from Amazon
A recent release that's certain to be of interest to anyone with an enthusiasm for London's 'underground' past – London Calling: A Countercultural History of London Since 1945 by Barry Miles.
It is described as 'a major and definitive history of the counterculture' by a 'pre-eminent chronicler of the cultural underground', written by a man who should know all about it, being the co-owner of the Indica Gallery, founder of the International Times and organiser of the 14 Hour Technicolour Dream event. In terms of content it looks at the counterculture that sprang up in the decades following the Second World War, focusing on the West End and Soho, from the heady days of post-war Soho. the jazz bars and clubs of the fifties, the teddy boys and the Angry Young Men, Francis Bacon and the legendary Colony Club, the 1960s and the Summer of Love, along with the rise of punk.
Out now in hardback, Amazon is selling it for a discounted £12.48.
We're big fans of Pete McKee's retro-style illustrations and if you are too, you might want to get your hands on his new Teenage Kicks book.
It's the book version of his most recent exhibition, which celebrates the good, the bad and the ugly influences music has had on fashion. All 22 paintings from the collection are featured, along with additional sketches, all signed by the artist and limited to just 500 copies in total.
Included with the book is a special etched piece of white vinyl featuring the image Booty and the Beat (above). The book and vinyl are packaged in a special 12-inch record sleeve, with Phil Oakey of the Human League doing the foreword. You can see that packaging over the page or head to the artist's site to get one. Price is a not-inconsiderable £120.
A new glossy illustrated book from a new publishing house, Lifestyle Illustrations of the 60s by Rian Hughes is a new take on an ever popular decade.
This book is one of the first titles to be released by Fiell Publishing, the new book enterprise from Charlotte and Peter Fiell. If their names sound familiar it's because they were previously editors of many of Taschen's design titles (including the one on Scandinavian design we featured ages ago) and now have decided to bring their expertise to their own publishing company.
Like the Scandinavian design book, this publication is jammed full of images. It features over 1000 illustrations in its 576 pages, focused on magazine artwork from that period. So while you get a survey of that decade's commercial artistic talent, you also get a sense of the social and material aspirations of that period – and how they were affected by the youthquake that took place within its years. Definitely worth a flick through then. Fans of the Fifties will be pleased to note a companion volume focusing on that decade is due in September.
The book is available for £23.70 from Amazon
