I like it when parts of London go a bit JG Ballard - or Talking Heads ‘Nothing But Flowers… or whatever your favourite dystopian eco-sci-fi lullaby is. #Ballard #jgballard #london #summer #sun #greenery #towerblock #apartment #talkingheads #davidbyrne #nothingbutflowers #gardenersworld gardenersquestiontime #growbag
Happy 80th birthday to Penguin Books. It really was a very good idea. And it still can be. #penguinbooks #birthday #anniversary #publishing #books
This was me checking the proofs of my new Carole King ‘Tapestry’ print yesterday afternoon and working out which one was best. (The best one is of course the one that’s now available in my Etsy shop). #caroleking #tapestry #poster #print #homedecor #books #penguinbooks
Its probably just me, but I always think there’s something pleasingly exotic - in a very low-key kind of way - about German food packaging. Even contemporary things like this one from Lidl. #packaging #design #Lidl #typography #german #germany #food
Here’s my new print. It’s Carole King’s fantastic 1971 album ‘Tapestry’ as if it had been written as a collection of books instead of songs. It’s available from my Etsy shop via the link in my profile, or via bit.ly/tapestryprint #caroleking #tapestry #album #1971 #penguinbooks #books #music #poster #art #feminist #1970s #paperback #library #bookshelf #print #etsy
Sent a new print off to the printers for proofing today. An early 1970s album, so quite nice to employ a muted palette with ‘hints of avocado’ as they would undoubtedly have said back then (about most things). #1970s #penguinbooks #avocado #green #interiordesign #interiordecor #books #music #poster #printing #printmaking
Another page from one of my early books. Because there just aren’t enough giant dachshunds in classicist paintings. #painting #classicist #art #books #dachshund #homedecor
Relentless rain here in London today. Never mind - the sound of it always reminds me of the end of ‘Well I Wonder’ on 'Meat Is Murder’ by The Smiths, which is almost as perfect a run-out to a song as there could ever be… (This print is available via standarddesigns.etsy.com) #thesmiths #smiths #morrissey #meatismurder #johnnymarr #welliwonder #rain #london #print #poster #books #libraries #music
Today while searching in the Standard Designs External Archive Complex I found a book I’d made in the summer between finishing my Fine Art BA and starting my MA. This is one of the pages. Brings back a lot of fond memories - there’s nothing like defacing classicist paintings for making a person feel alive, eh? #painting #art #defacing #graffiti #design #book #selfpublishing #selfmade #bookbinding #artbook #song
Happy birthday to Ernest Hemingway, who was born this day in 1899. If he was still alive today… he’d be the second oldest person in the world. And only by a few days. The oldest, Susannah Mushatt Jones (I’m reliably informed by Wikipedia) was born on 6 July 1899, just over two weeks before him. I’d imagine he’d find that p-r-e-t-t-y peeving - living all that time only to be second! No matter, Ernest. You’d probably have written some superb stuff inbetween (can you imagine Hemingway writing during - and about - the 1980s in America?!). (By the way, this print’s available from bit.ly/ernestprint ). #Hemingway #birthday #ernesthemingway #portrait #drawing
There are few things in life as good as Scott Walker’s late-60s self-titled solo albums. They are, almost literally, a Saturday night light entertainment TV show as scripted by Albert Camus. Or a walk around the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
with Kenneth Williams. Just delightful on so many levels. So I made these prints a while back. They’re available from standarddesigns.etsy.com #scottwalker #music #poster #print #1960s #60s #jacquesbrel #albertcamus #modernist #modernart #modern #paris #chanson #museum
The afternoon of a non-cartoonist. Or, at least, 5 minutes of it. Working on ideas for the next Standard Designs venture. Don’t worry, it *won’t* be cartooning (though there will be lots of drawing). #cartoon #drawing #art #poster #print
I can’t work this 1970s kitchen out - are those individual cereal containers/dispensers on the left? Sugar-tastic!
Listened to Tom Waits’ classic ‘Rain Dogs’ today. I’m consoling myself after apparently losing my VHS copy of ‘Down By Law’ (if it’s not in the attic, it ain’t nowhere - probably the same nowhere that my vinyl copy of 'Big Time’ went to a few years/decades ago). Damn. This is my 'Rain Dogs’ books print, which is available here: http://bit.ly/raindogsprint
I’ve always loved Willie Rushton’s cartoons. Every line is full of chuckles - mid-1960s chuckles, which are some of the best. #cartoon #drawing #privateeye #rushton #60s #satire #comedy #art #caricature #politics #british #establishment
Now then, when it comes to author portraits Mr JP Dunleavy here has got it going on. The beard, the big fur coat, the thick, thick hair, the pensive pout - this man positively reeks of Mid-20th Century Writer.
Been listening to this album a lot today - David Bowie’s ‘Low’. It’s consistently in my Top 5. And this is a close-up of my print of it, available from bit.ly/bowielow #davidbowie #low #eno #brianeno #literature #art #poster #penguinbooks #music #berlin #1970s #synth #bowie
Ah, so *this* is the PSV Circle. I had been wondering. Clearly somebody couldn’t get enough bureaucracy in their life… #office #work #magazine #hobby #b&w #blackandwhite #typography #design #1970s
Wimbledon Common, this weekend. These time travel chambers still need a *lot* of work if we’re to get them operational by a week last Wednesday.
This is a work in progress. I’ve worked in many TV studios over the years, and I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to do so in the sixties. Probably the same, except with fewer takeout sandwiches and more David Frost.
Look what the Google Translate app does to the cover of John Wyndham’s ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ (it’s set to translate into German because I’ve been trying to learn the language for about a thousand years). Strange. It’s the future… kind of. Maybe all typography will be dodgy in the future.
