Category Archives: archives

On Display

By crownfolio | Published: January 11, 2012

Having already written in praise of the ephemeral last week, it’s time to explore some more things that can never be recreated. I ordered this book ages ago, but it arrived just before Christmas after a slow sea crossing of the Atlantic. The wait was worthwhile, because it is full of wonderful things, even if, [...]

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Extended Christmas Greetings

By crownfolio | Published: December 22, 2011

More Christmas joy from the BPMA, which today comes to you in the form of lovely long van posters. This first offering, from Eric Fraser in 1942, may well not be a Christmas poster at all, but I liked the elephants so much that it can stay anyway. This Beaumont also has that wartime urgency [...]

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Surf, psychosis and Audrey Hepburn

By crownfolio | Published: November 23, 2011

Remember I asked last week where all the traditional railway posters have gone?  Well now I know the answer: they’re all in the forthcoming Onslows Sale. Ronald Lampitt, 1948, est. £500-600 There’s no shortage of them yet, that’s for certain.  In fact, in some wierd inversion of the natural order of the world, Onslows are [...]

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Service Please

By crownfolio | Published: November 14, 2011

I’ve been meaning to post these two small items for ages.  They came to us with the assorted collection of Daphne Padden design materials which we got earlier this year, but what with them not being flat and all, I’ve only just got round to photographing them. They’re both designs for Marks and Spencers.  This [...]

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Novel and Inexpensive

By crownfolio | Published: October 21, 2011

Today I want to show you an archive, but it isn’t one which is chock full of images, or bringing us rare images of gorgeous graphics.  It wins a post of its own, though, simply by existing. May I introduce you to the City of Birmingham’s Railway Collection.  They came to my attention when I [...]

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What is the range of activity of the commercial artist in Britain?

By crownfolio | Published: September 7, 2011

That’s what this copy of Graphis is asking in 1950. (And yes, the cover is by Tom Eckersley). Unfortunately for us, most of the answers are in black and white, apart from this design for Kia-ora by Lewitt-Him. And this Christmas advertisement for Simpsons of Piccadilly. I think there may have been some more at [...]

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