Categories / Books, Design and Interiors

Lifestyle Illustrations of the 60s by Rian Hughes

Lifestyle illustration

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

Categories / Design and Interiors, Food and Drink

Tiki drink recipe cards from Sivletto

Sivletto cards

Add some swing to a soiree with these Tiki drink recipe cards from Sivletto

The cards feature 24 recipes for creating delicious (or lethal) sounding cocktails in your own home, including the likes of the Denby Daiquiri which was created in the 1950s at the Mai-Kai hotel. If this isn't enough to entice you to indulge, they've also asked twelve artists, each with a suitably retro flavour, to illustrate the cards. The likes of Pekka Wizzz, Doug Horne and Lord Dunsby have all obliged meaning you'll come out of the deal with something nice to look at, as well as a likely hangover. 

The original designs were on display at the Sivletto store in Stockholm but you can buy these reproductions for just £16 from their website. 

Buy them online

Categories / Art and Photography

Wayne Pate’s London print

Pate London

Looking at Wayne Pate's London print, it's hard to believe it's a contemporary design. Its nostalgic view of the capital – complete with black cab, red bus and bowler hat-wearing pigeon – looks like its been inspired by travel and tourism posters from the 50s and 60s. 

Such an idyllic view of London could possibly have only been produced by someone living outside of London and indeed Pate is Brooklyn based. 

The print costs a very reasonable $35. However, shipping outside of North America adds an additional $23 onto the cost. 

Buy it online

Categories / Art and Photography

Two Up, Two Down print by Lisa Jones

Lisa Jones two up

We've shown you Lisa Jones' delightful images before, specifically her Town print. This Two Up, Two Down print is every bit as appealing. 

The image shows a typically British house in a scene that is brimming with detail, from the milk bottles by the door to the apple and anglepoise lamp in the window to the cup of coffee on the windowsill. The use of the three colour blue palette adds to the retro Scandinavian feel. 

Two Up, Two Down costs £65 from Elphicks

Categories / Bags, Music

Pattern People Prince and Michael Jackson bags

Prince_bag_sm

Organic cotton is hardly what you'd think of being the fabric of choice for either Prince or Michael Jackson, but it's the material used for Pattern People's fun bags featuring those two musical icons. 

Each tote bag features an illustration of the icons shown at the height of their musical powers: Prince is shown in his Purple Rain phase, while you can see an image of Michael in full-on king of pop mode over the page. 

Pattern People's other bags have more of a fashion focus and feature Marc Jacobs and Karl Lagerfeld but all are pretty stylish alternatives to many of the eco shoppers around. That's reflected in the price too, as they cost £34.93 each. 

Buy them from the Colette website

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Categories / Art and Photography, Kids

Littlephant prints

Littlephant pic

More fun retro-styled illustration for kids courtesy of new Swedish company, Littlephant

Camilla Lundsten is the designer behind Littlephant and her illustrations feature lively cartoon-like illustrations of animals, executed in a 1950s inspired colour scheme. The resulting images are sure to brighten up any room. 

What's even better is that they are reasonably priced at £15 each. 

Buy it from Little Baby Company