Design Letters by e-Types

If you're into all things typographical, check out these new Design letters from 95% Danish. They are part of a collaboration between them and e-Types one of Denmark's hottest design agencies. These sprayed plywood letters can be bought individually in 5 different colours; Orange, Black, Pink, Purple and Turquoise for £3.95 each or as a full Alphabet Package for £89. They come with sticky pad fixings to be stuck on walls or doors or pretty much anywhere you want to put them! My favourite is the News combination below, they would look great in an office or studio.

(All images from Home Shopping Spy)

95% Danish also sell their AlphaArt range, a collection of 55 characters, 26 lower case letters. 26 upper case letters and !, @ and &. Each piece is machined from MDF and hand sprayed with up to 5 coats of paint to give a smooth finish. 

(Iimages from Home Shopping Spy)

Russell Pinch

For a while now I have seen Russell Pinch's designs cropping up in the interiors magazines, in particular his 'Pendel' 2 seat sofa. With it's vivid floral fabric and curvaceous form it is bound to be a classic of the future. After working as Terence Conran's design assistant and Senior Product designer for the Conran group, In 2004 he set up Pinch Design with his wife Oona Bannon. They work from their studio in Clapham, London where they 'aim to create graceful and iconic furniture and lighting'. 

Well as you can see from the images below, they have certainly achieved that. Russell also designs for a number of retailers including SCP, Ercol, Conran and Jamie Oliver's JME home-ware range. 

It is also available in a fantastic curvy chair.

He has also just won a Wallpaper Design award for his Pontus Desk below, I must admit I do love it's little pigeon holes and mix of walnut, oak and white painted finishes. 

His Yves writing desk is also wonderful, made of solid Walnut with a lime green leather top and drawer, there is something very mid-century in it's design. You can see why he has been employed by the likes of Ercol and Conran. He has also won a string of other designs awards including the Grand Design awards in 2009 for this desk.

(All images from Pinch Design)

So if you fancy checking out some more of his designs take a look at his website, he is definitely one to watch in the future.

Donna Wilson

I have previously blogged about the delights of Donna Wilson's Homeware designs and the fact she was voted Designer of the Year in the Elle Decoration design awards. She has recently launched some new additions which include the 'Ogilvy' cushions, 'Owl' and 'Kaleidoscope' plates.

I am also in love with her Red 'Ernest Zig Zag' Pouffe.

he has recently collaborated with SCP to produce the Nos Da Collection, all the products use wool specially spun and dyed in England and woven in Wales. The designs are reminiscent of vintage welsh blankets. So if you are looking for some statement pieces from a fantastic British designer to invest in or even just an addition to your ever growing cushion collection, take a look at Donna's website.

(Images from Donna Wilson)

http://mrs-peabod.blogspot.com/2010/11/donna-wilson.html

Fired Earth Mid-Century Paint

Apologies for not posting on Friday I was a tad distracted by the fact my best friend took me to see Dirty Dancing the musical as a surprise for my upcoming birthday. Having not been to many musicals I wasn't sure what to expect but it was fantastic, the sets, costumes and actors were brilliant and by the end I was singing along to all the songs, I didn't realise how much of the dialogue I knew by heart. So that was Friday, then on Saturday we spent all day coming up with designs for my friends wedding stationery, which I think we've finalised. I'll post it once it's completed. Hope you all had a fun weekend!

Anyway down to the topic at hand. Fired Earth one of the best suppliers of paint colours in the UK has developed a Mid-Century range. So now not only can we have the furniture and fabrics that we love so much in lovely retro colours but we can paint the walls to suit. Below are the shades in the order they appear plus examples of room set-ups; Southbank, Race Yellow, Festival Orange, Skylon Grey, Garden City, Flamingo Pink. Notice all the names are inspired by the 1951 festival of Britain. I particularly love the Southbank shade but that might have something to do with the fab chairs and Ercol table in the image.

(Images from Fired Earth)

Mel Stringer Printables

I was reading one of my daily inspiration blogs PaperCrave this morning and came across these brilliant printable templates for paper cameras by Brisbane based artist Mel Stringer. I love anything you can make out of paper, having always had a fascination with making origami birds. You can purchase the templates for $4 each from her Etsy shop here, where you will sent the pdf for all colour options. I particularly like the Vintage Box Cameras (Last photo). These templates would make a great project for you and your kids, or even if you've just got an afternoon with nothing better to do, not that they come up very often!.

(Images from Etsy)

Ernest Race

I was reading an article in Living Etc about Linear designs that included the wonderful Antelope bench designed by Ernest Race for 'The Festival of Britain' and is still produced today by Race Furniture. I might actually love this as much as the the Ercol Love seat.

(Image from Living Etc)

Here is an excerpt from the All Things Considered website published by St Jude's who were previously asked by Liberty to collaborate with Race Furniture to put their fabrics on the re-issued BA3 Chair.

"Ernest Race was one the most important figures in British post-war design. After studying interior design, Race began his career with the lighting manufacturer Troughton & Young. During World War II Race served with the auxiliary fire service, after which he founded Race Furniture Ltd in Clapham, South London. Race realised that redundant wartime materials could be recycled, so he designed his furniture to utilise discarded aluminium and ex-RAF upholstery fabrics. In 1946 Race showed the BA chair at the ‘Britain Can Make It’ exhibition. Made from recast aluminium, this design epitomised the post-war spirit and set new standards within industrial design. Race established himself at the forefront of the modern design movement, producing some of the most innovative furniture of the 1950s."

Other Race designs include the Antelope chair:

(Image from Race Furniture)

The Heron Chair which was re-issued for the 100% Design Exhibition:

(Image from Race Furniture)

The Rocking Chair seen here in a St Judes Fabric:

(Image from All Things Considered)

And last but not least the beautifully simple BA3 Chair. The first mass produced cast aluminium chair in the world,  available to buy from Rockett St George.

(Image from All Things Considered)

In The 1960's Race was also employed by Isokon to redesign the Penguin Donkey storage unit. You can read about this design in a previous post here.

Bottle Green Homes

While I was reading the April issue of Living Etc I saw these wonderful vintage bottles as part of their 'decorating with Indigo' article. They are available from the online boutique Bottle Green Homes, along with many other lovely and quirky British made home products. They also have a seriously cute blog about Jackson the mini wire-haired Dachshund and his life about town.

(Image from Living Etc)

They sell everything from Vintage Soda Syphons and Dartington Vases to Milk bottles. 

I particularly like this large vintage green soda bottle. It would look really pretty in a drinks cabinet (not that many people have them nowadays, but we can but dream!)

I love this sandcastle pot, it's so nostalgic. It would look great storing brightly coloured fruit.

This Britannia China inspired as a celebration of the British ceramic industry in Staffordshire is created by Repeat Repeat.

(Images from Bottle Green Homes)