Tag: Festival of Britain

Categories / Design and Interiors

Festival of Britain shop at Culture Label

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Fest

If you happen to have missed it, this week is 60 years since the iconic Festival of Britain took place in London. To mark this milestone, arty online shopping portal Culture Label has set up a Festival of Britain store, packed with products relating to the event.

In truth, some are more relevant than others, although all are worth a browse. Our favourite is undoubtedly the superb Southbank Centre x Lizzie Allen Festival of Britain Wallpaper. It's a bespoke wallpaper, made in very small runs and using traditional, hand crafted processes, with this particular design celebrating the energy and vigour of the Festival of Britain, featuring both participants and the Southbank itself.

Unlikely to work for a whole room (not least, because of cost), it would look superb as a feature wall. Each roll is 10m long and sells for £370.

Find out more at the Culture Label website

Categories / Homeware

Mid-Century Colours by Kevin McCloud for Fired Earth

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MIDCENTURY
Kevin McCloud, more commonly know for poking around building projects on Channel 4's Grand Designs, has created a range of Mid-Century style paint colours for Fired Earth.

Inspired by the upcoming 60th anniversary of The Festival of Britain, the collection includes six authentic shades to capture the spirit of the iconic event. From the zingy Race Yellow to the more muted Skylon Grey, the range is the perfect finishing touch to any aspiring 50s home.

Prices start at £29.50 for a 2.5L can. Visit the website for more details.

Categories / Design and Interiors

SORT Festival of Britain commemorative stationery set

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Sort festival
Cast your mind back and you may remember Modern Living stationery set we featured from the Society of Revisionist Typographers, otherwise known as SORT. SORT have produced another product for the Southbank Centre, this time a Festival of Britain commemorative stationery set. 

The duo have deployed their letterpress skills to echo the graphic style and logos of the original Festival of Britain. Each set contains 30 sheets of notepaper, split between two different styles, 20 printed envelopes and one notebook, all in a presentation box.

Something to write home about, the set costs £15.

Buy it online

Categories / Design and Interiors

Antelope Chair by Ernest Race – the Festival of Britain chair reissued

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Ant

It might look fairly unassuming, but this is a British midcentury classic, the Antelope Chair by Ernest Race.

Back on the market 60 years after its first introduction, the Antelope Chair originally appeared on the terrace of the new Royal Festival Hall at the 1951 Festival of Britain and was said to be a compromise between English tradition and Scandinavian innovation.

The chair is made of welded steel rods, with wood used for the seating. Simple it is in construction, but that's not actually reflected in the price. One will set you back £505.

Find out more at the Conran Shop website

Categories / Art and Photography

Towards a New Britain by Blue Print

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Towards a new
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

Categories / Design and Interiors, Food and Drink

V&A Feldman 1950s textile design oven glove

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Feldman
More 1950s designs taken from the V&A's extensive archive and applied to new products, in this case an oven glove based on a 1950s Feldman textile.

The pattern was designed by J. Feldman and then produced by David Whitehead Ltd in 1954, originally as a roller printed rayon. The design screams the early '50s with its atomic influenced pattern, an example of the type of textile pattern that came out of the Festival of Britain and are proving to be so popular again in 2011. 

The V&A have used it on a number of cotton kitchen accessories, also including an oven mit and a tea towel. This oven glove costs £10. 

See them online