On a walk round Habitat last week for something substantial to sit on, a couple of things for the wall actually drew my attention – these retro-style maps of London and Paris by Alice Tait.
They're canvas prints, each one with a really cool retro illustration of the major sights of each city. Slightly informative, very eye-catching.
Each one is 60 x 80cm and is digital image printed onto a canvas backing. They sell for £89. An image of the Paris map is over the page.
It initially showed in Sheffield, but from this week, you can catch Pete McKee's Cover Version exhibition in London, specifically at The Design Conspiracy.
It's a celebration of album artwork, with McKee and notable figures from art, music and graphic design re-inventing or paying tribute to their favourite vinyl sleeves. Pete McKee's Electric Ladyland is above – reworked as Electric Landlady.
Others showing art include Sir Paul Smith, Tony Husband, Kid Acne, Masrk Riley, Richard Hawley and Lord Dunsby, with his Melody artwork. You can check it out at The Design Conspiracy's new exhibition space at 12 Stukeley Street, just off Drury Lane in central London.
Having a lot of people around for afternoon tea? Let The Vintage Table lighten the load.
The Vintage Table supplies crockery for hire for events around London, the twist being – as you might expect from the name – that the crockery is all vintage. It ranges in date from the 1920s through to the '60s and includes such charming gems as the coffee pot pictured which is from the 1930s. The service grew out of the personal ceramics collection of the owner Claire and has no doubt been helped along by her antique dealer father.
The company offers the hire, set-up and styling and even washing-up, if desired. To give you an idea of price, hire of crockery for afternoon tea for 50 people costs £240.
Find out more online
Opening today at London's Somerset House is a new exhibition called Dior Illustrated. Subtitled René Gruau and the Line of Beauty it looks at the work of illustrator René Gruau who created iconic fashion imagery for Dior in the 1940s and 50s.
Gruau worked for some of the most famous couture houses and style magazines of the period but is best known for his collaboration with Christian Dior, for whom he created the marketing images for Dior's first perfume, Miss Dior, in 1947. The exhibition includes some of his illustrations for Dior parfums, alongside the original bottles. Gruau's fashion illustration remains influential today and there's the opportunity to see some of his sketches, alongside some of the haute couture dresses that inspired them, providing a glamorous snapshot of the era.
The exhibition runs until 9 January. Tickets cost £6, with concessions at £5.
Find out more online
A great take on three of the world's great cities, courtesy of Bianca Gomez and her prints of London, Paris and New York.
Each print depicts a different city in the style of a classic travel poster. While the simple elements are the same in each image – a man in the city, the name of the place running across the print – she manages to inject a bit of personality into each scene. The New York print, for example, looks like its come straight off the cover of a vintage New Yorker magazine, while the London print cleverly uses the font traditionally used for the capital's transport system. The Paris print is suitably full of Gallic charm.
Each print is A4 sized and you can buy them individually for $30 each, or $75 for a set of three. Alternatively you can get larger individual prints for $60 each.
Buy them from Bianca Gomez's Etsy store
London's landmarks have provided inspiration to artists over hundreds of years. Kate McLelland's London Skyline print offers another take on the capital.
This striking design was recently awarded second placed in the London Transport design competition and the Edinburgh based illustrator has drawn on folk styles for her depiction, adding a fairytale quality to landmarks like the BT Tower and the Gherkin, as well as to traditional London sights like red phone boxes and double decker buses. The print is depicted in the patriotic colours of red, white and blue.
The print is limited to 41 copies and costs $50.
Buy it from her Etsy store
