Letterheady

Have you seen this before? Written by Shaun Usher (who also writes Letters of Note), Letterheady is a blog dedicated to archiving interesting letterheads from around the world. What a unique idea, and a great source for locating retro graphics.

Take a look through the Letterheady archives and ease yourself into the weekend...

Kitty & Dude Ceramics

It’s time to take a virtual trip to the lovely city of Edinburgh to visit the studio of ceramicist Cosima Sempill and her label Kitty & Dude. Cosima spent four years studying ceramics at the Glasgow School of Art before relocating to Edinburgh. She initially started working out of her parents’ garage, but then had the opportunity to move to The Adam Pottery workshop, where she was able to develop her product line working in a studio environment. According to Cosima, Kitty & Dude stems from a personal interpretation of childhood pursuits combined with the patterns and palettes of the 1950s, and her work is also heavily influenced by her childhood in South Africa.

Cosima’s products are primarily made from plaster using a slip-cast technique, and many feature digital decals – transfers that she designs and then fires onto the glazed bodies. There is a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour to Cosima’s work (gun handle mugs, ‘rubber’ ducks, ornamental grenades...), although I think that the gold trimmings and vintage floral patterns featured on many her products also connote a feeling of refined British sophistication.

Kitty & Dude products are available for purchase here, or for more ordering information visit the Kitty & Dude website. A range of Kitty & Dude products are also currently available in the Teatopia exhibition shop at the Millenium Gallery in Sheffield, UK. This exhibition sounds amazing – it’s all about Britain’s obsession with tea, and features a range of historic and contemporary teaware and tea-related textiles from the likes of Hitomi Hosono, Darling Clementine and Rob Ryan. Definitely one to check out if you're near that part of the world.

Babyccino Branding

Look how sweet these icons are. They were created by Petit Alma for Babyccino Kids, an international lifestyle website for modern parents. Babyccino Kids had developed a series of kid-friendly travel guides designed to help parents visit cities in style, and approached Petit Alma to develop branding that reflected their modern approach.Petit Alma, a design studio based in Manhattan and run by Kirby Woodson Legate, has a strong focus on the baby and children’s market, and has done a lovely job branding these city guides and designing the Babycchino website. And while I have no connection with parenthood, I can definitely appreciate the need for stylish city guide like these - too cute!

Letterpress Ampersand

Another ampersand to add to the file. Spotted over at Lottie Loves, this lovely ampersand lettepress print is from Brooklyn-based typographer and illustrator Jessica Hische. It's part of Jessica's Daily Drop Cap project, which sees her illustrate a decorative letter every day. Jessica has selected letters from the first six alphabets of her project and created individual lettepress prints, which are available here. If you ever happen to spot any interesting ampersands on your travels, do let me know.

My Tokyo: A Fashion & Design Shopping Guide

I’ve been dreaming about visiting Tokyo for a while now, so this new zine – My Tokyo: A Fashion & Design Shopping Guide by Sydney-based textile and graphic designer Eloise Rapp – is all the inspiration I need to start putting every spare cent I can get my hands on into that Japan holiday jar. Exhilarated and inspired by her shopping ventures throughout the city, Eloise decided to put together a guide to Tokyo’s best fashion and design districts, with shop and gallery reviews, website listings, photos, addresses, maps and map references.

The guide comes as a 28-page saddle-stitched booklet. I love the cover design and the maps look easy to navigate – essential in a city I imagine myself getting very, very lost in.

My Tokyo: A Fashion & Design Shopping Guide is available for purchase in Eloise’s Etsy and MadeIt shops, and is also available as a downloadable PDF here, with an iPhone app soon to come.

New From Joanna Rutter

British jewellery designer Joanna Rutter is well known (and loved) for her gorgeous sterling silver pieces, and has recently been building on this success by developing some new product lines. Taking her signature illustrative designs as a starting point, Joanna has used new techniques and materials to create a range of homewares, including coasters and mats made from 100% flecked grey wool felt.

Joanna has also been experimenting with new materials for her jewellery line, including a range of walnut wood pieces.

I’m always fascinated by how a design can be applied to different surfaces and products, and I think the transition of Joanna’s designs from sterling silver jewellery to felt and wood is a great example of this (I also read mention of a new fabric line in the works on Joanna's blog). It’s great to see an independent designer build on their success with new and fresh products, and I can’t wait to see more! Joanna's products are available for purchase via her website and Etsy shop.

Lydia Nichols Illustration

I recently stumbled across the lovely illustration work by Lydia Nichols and thought I’d share some of them with you today, because they’re just too nice not to. Lydia is a designer/illustrator who hails from Pennsylvania but is currently based in Brooklyn. You can see a real mid-century influence in Lydia’s illustration style, but with modern twist.

With my penchant for all things Cathrineholm, I was immediately drawn to this Scandinavian kettle pattern... To see more of Lydia’s work visit her website, blog and Etsy shop.

MrPS

It's cold and grey here in Melbourne today, which inevitably makes me think of England. Which makes me think of cups of tea, beans on toast and MrPS tea towels, which so perfectly tap into this British sensibility (and aesthetic).

Designed and printed in Manchester by Megan Price, MrPS incorporates a range of items that feature bright colours and classic graphics inspired by eating and drinking, vintage signage and the great British seaside. Aside from her fantastic line of tea towels, Megan also designs a range of tote bags, paper screenprints and bone china mugs.

MrPS products are available in Megan's online shop and via a range of stockists. You can also keep up to date with goings on over at the MrPS blog. Put the kettle on love...

attia

For the past few days I've been sneaking peeks at the gorgeous range of kitchenware items from Sydney-based company attia. Attia is run by interior stylist Rachel Brown, who works for the likes of Real Living, Inside Out and Donna Hay. Attia promotes living with a simple yet chic palette using multifunctional pieces to inspire natural beauty at the table, and all pieces are designed in Australia and handmade in Indonesia using a combination of stoneware and sustainable timber, making each item unique in its own little way.

Flicking through the attia website you really notice that the styling, combined with the lovely photographs taken by Sydney-based photographer Amanda McLaughlan, make the items all the more desirable. Attia will be exhibiting their wares at the Melbourne 2010 Life InStyle exhibition, and you can also email them for details on local stockists within Australia.

New from Chickenfoot Designs

Chickenfoot Designs is the creation of Helena Harry, an architect who lived in Europe and the UK for many years before returning to Melbourne in 2005. Chickenfoot is Helena’s outlet for creating small-scale handmade objects, and her range currently includes includes cards, notebooks and tea towels that feature unique illustrations in a variety of bold colours. All products are made locally – tea towels are silk screened in Melbourne on 100% linen using water-based non-toxic inks, cards are printed in Melbourne on recycled FSC certified recycled paper and notebooks are also printed on 100% 90gsm recycled paper.

Helena has recently added some new products to the Chickenfoot Designs range, including these fab new Out of the Kitchen and Architecture notebooks. I think my favourite has to be the garlic pattern notebook – I love garlic and I'm a fan of the white ink on brown card combination. New additions to the tea towel range include beater and drill tea towels printed in lovely pink and olive inks. And finally, the latest additions to the Chickenfoot Architecture range include gift cards featuring measured drawings of cast iron detailing from three locations in Sydney – Moncur Street in Woollahra, Five Ways in Paddington and Rosyln Street in Potts Point. I think these cards would be especially nice to send to family and friends overseas; they elegantly showcase those little architectural details that help define Sydney houses.You can purchase these products from the Chickenfoot Designs website as well as from a variety of stockists in Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Chickenfoot will also be exhibiting at the Melbourne Life Instyle trade show in August.

More Ampersand Love

I've just spotted a couple of new ampersand-related products from a Brisbane-based designer named Up In Annie's Room – a lovely laser-cut timber brooch and a fantastic laser-cut chandelier made from MDF timber! Both items can be purchased from the Up In Annie's Room Made It shop.