After discovering Iain Follett’s stamp collection was featured in Creative Review’s January 2008 issue of Monograph, I decided to contact him and see if he would be interested in sharing some of his favorite stamps on grain edit. He agreed and has graciously provided us with some choice stamps and his comments.
Continuing with our designer’s bookshelf series, grain edit is proud to present Iain Follett.
Label from Bardola Hoyfjellshotel in Geilo, Norway - c1960s?
I think I’m obsessed with modern Scandinavian design from the 1950s- 1960s. First it was furniture and kids books, then Ceramics and now luggage labels! Where does it end? What’s in that Nordic water?
Brochure for the Rancho San Miguel (Walnut Creek,CA) Eichler development c1950s
In honor of the upcoming Birth of Cool: Mid-Century Modern design in California exhibition, I thought it would be nice to post this Eichler brochure. I found the brochure several years ago at an estate sale in Lafayette, California. I love the photo. Most likely the photographer is Ernest (Ernie) Braun.
Wow, amazing luggage label from Belgian airlines Sabena. This label is promoting travel to Africa. Look at those colors! I love how the illustrator portrays the faceted shades of the girl’s face in bold “Fauvist” hues.
Matchbooks for Hunt-Wesson by Graphic designer Saul Bass
Jon (Insect54) posted this amazing set of matchbooks on flickr last night. I’ve never seen these before. I’m digging the pixelated flower in the lower left corner and the orange and yellow pattern on the 3rd down, 3rd to right is really nice. Saul designed the logo for Hunt-Wesson in 1964 so I’m guessing this work was produced right around the same time.
Vette Annonce type specimen sheet late - Netherlands 1950s/ early 60s
Happy Wednesday! It’s been a while since I’ve posted any type specimens, so I figured it was time to post this gem from Lettergieterij ‘Amsterdam’ (Amsterdam Type Foundry) which was founded by Nicolaas Tetterode. The specimen is a tri-fold that opens to reveal an 11 X 17 sheet. I’d love to know more about Tetterode, ATF, and this typeface. Can any of the typographers out there fill in the blanks? Has Vette Annonce been digitized? I believe “Vette Annonce” translates to “fat advertisement”. With that in mind, is “Vette Annonce” even the name of the typeface?
Swiss Air pamphlet - designer: Kurt wirth and Paul Beer c1950s
SwissAir has a rich history with some of Switzerland’s finest designers. Over the last 60 years the Airline has worked with Karl Gerstner, Kurt Wirth, Donald Brun, Fritz Buhler and Siegfried Odermatt just to name a few. The pamphlet above is one of many brilliant pieces to result from this relationship.
It appears to be some sort of promotional piece for the Douglas DC 7 which was produced in 1956. I love how Kurt Wirth laid out the information.
You can see the rest of the pamphlet at Ace Jet 170. Many thanks to Richard for posting this gem.
Portland based designer Gavin Potenza (Exploratory Design) has cooked up a series of sweet stamps. The series which was inspired by the work of Otl Aicher is entitled Homage to the Stamp.
Vintage modern stamps from Israel - 1975 Arbor day collection
Ok we’re back. I hope everyone had a great weekend. Pretty chill one here. Watched Dial M for murder by Hitchcock. Tonight it’s either Stray Dog by Akira Kurosawa or Brute force by Jules Dassin.
Now onto the stamps….
Great stuff going on here. Johnny blue bird is eating cherry nugs off a psychedelic tree. Meanwhile on the left, rectangle legs is rolling deep in lollipop marsh.
Hotel Astoria Lucerne was located in Luzern, Switzerland. As they claim in their promotional material, they were the “most modern Hotel of Central Switzerland”. After looking at this I brochure, I believe them. I’m not sure if the hotel still exists. I was able to find some information on a Hotel Astoria Lucerne designed by Herzog & De Meuron but, I’m not sure if bears any relation. I realize Herzog & De Meuron are modern day architects, but possibly they renovated the existing structure? Anyone have any info on this?
Sweet’s Catalog Service provided catalogs of building and plumbing supplies to architects and contractors. Ladislav along with Knud Lönberg-Holm were responsible for presenting the information within these catalogs in a clear, concise manner.
The promotional, folded sheet above explains the need for easily accessible product information especially during times of war (this was written in the midst of World War 2). As Sweets maintained, providing essential product information in an effecient way could eliminate waste and speed production:
The increasing need for speed in war production is reflected in increasing demand for product information.
In order to be useful such product information should be comprehensive, concise, coordinated
Prefiling of catalogs has been developed as a means for controlling the flow of essential product information
Just found this great polish blog called pantuniestal. They put together a small collection of polish maps from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. You can see a preview above. Check out the fish that guy in the yellow rain suit caught. That thing has some crazy sharp triangle teeth. Do they have Piranha in Poland or something?
Besides the maps they have some great examples of mid century modern ephemera. Browsing the site I found Czech matchbox labels, vintage cameras, hotel luggage labels etc. In addition to the Polish, there is an English version of the site so you can follow the conversation. Tons of eye candy here.
This is one of my favorite luggage labels out of portugal. Most likely from the late 1950s. I love the colors. Who wouldn’t want to stay in a hotel with bright orange panels as part of the facade? This hotel still exists and it really does have orange panels. At openline Portugal you can see a photo of the Hotel Infante Santo as it exists today (scroll halfway down the site).
What did they feed these kids in the 60s? Their HUGE! They have no chance of riding the funliner considering their heads are bigger then the whole plane. I don’t think they want to ride in it though, I think they want to eat it.
Cool kids activity book from 1964 produced for United Airlines. Illustrations by Dick Flor. Includes a tragic tale of some campers getting their precious hamburger buns stolen by some juvenile chipmunks. Great stuff!
Zurich never looked better in pink. Heres a promotional item produced by the Official tourists office of Zurich, Switzerland. I’m guessing it dates back to the early to mid 1950s. Layout and printing by Orell Fussli Arts Graphiques. I was able to find other projects designed by Orell Fussli but I couldn’t find any information on the firm itself. If anyone knows anything, please email me.
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