Graphic Journey Blog

Paper creation

Back in the ’50s and ’60s, The Wallpaper Manufacturers organisation ran a series of full-page advertisements in The Architectural Review aimed at architects and interior designers. They not only featured wallpaper designs by Lucienne Day, Terence Conran, Jacqueline Groag, Joyce Storey and William Gear but also the ads were often illustrated to show wallpapers in interior settings, and these conceptual illustrations were created by David Gentleman and Dennis Bailey, among others. They all look the epitome of commercial art from that distant time, but they still have enormous charm. Take a look.

Wallpaper designed by Terence Conran 1961 

Illustrated by John Drummond 1960

Wallpaper designed by Terence Conran 1961 

 

Illustrated by Dennis Bailey 1958 

Wallpaper designed by Jose Bonnet 1961 

 Illustrated by David Gentleman 1957

Illustrated by Roger Nicholson 1957 

Illustrated by Esther Chadwick 1961

Wallpaper designed by Joyce Storey 1961 

Wallpaper designed by Elizabeth M. Gould 1961 

Illustrated by Eric Thomas 1957 

 Illustration by George Cayford 1961

Illustrated by David Gentleman 1958 

Illustrated by Walter Hoyle 1957 

 Illustrated by John Drummond 1960

Many of designers and illustrators featured in the WPM advertisements attended the Royal College of Art during the 1950s. The RCA made a point of forging  links directly with industry. Roger Nicholson (1922 –1986) a tutor of textiles in the fifties often commissioned RCA students and alumni to design wallpaper or illustrate advertisements for his client, Wallpaper Manufacturers Ltd, among these was Romek Marber, John Drummond, David Gentleman, Eric Thomas. 

If you'd like to know more about that Royal College of Art in the 1950's and 60's click here.

With thanks to Sim Panaser of Middlesex University for unearthing this fascinating batch of advertisements during researching a project.

 All images copyright Middlesex University

 

 

 

Wallpaper designed by Terence Conran 1961 

Carol: Sensual delight

I got a sneak preview of the new Todd Haynes-directed film Carol last night. It is based on Patricia Highsmith’s book The Price of Salt and stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, who give wonderful performances.

It is stunningly photographed by Edward Lachman (Far from Heaven), evocative of Saul Leiter’s celebrated heightened colour images of New York semi-obscured through rain-beaded windows, with the flare of neon and traffic lights. Lachman opts to shoot on 16mm film with an ever-present dancing grain. He uses long lenses throughout to achieve a very graphic look, with an exaggerated stacked perspective and a shallow focus making the experience a very sensual visual feast. 

Cate Blanchett is mesmerising and gives a wonderfully nuanced performance as the wealthy suburban wife trapped in the conventions of a conservative 1950s marriage of parties and small talk.

Rooney Mara (Therese Belivet) is pitch perfect as the naïve and curious shop assistant swept off her feet by the sophisticated Blanchett (Carol Aird), who looks every inch the classic movie star, especially kitted out in the superb costumes created by designer Sandy Powell. 

Todd Haynes’ sure-footed, unhurried and sensitive direction allows the relationship between Carol and Therese to unfold with great subtlety. It reminded me of the female counterpart of Tom Ford’s A Single Man. Really worth seeing this on the big screen.

 

Related articles

A talk with Todd Haynes, director of cool period noirs

'Carol' Trailers: Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara Fall in Love in '50s New York

Things I like...

The title page from Lambert's book featuring his own typeface Compacta

While leafing through my copy of Frederick Lambert’s Graphic Design Britain which I bought back in 1967, I came across this little group of perfectly formed and utterly delightful logos.

Designed by Michael Russell, Lyons Bakery, Allied Industrial Designers 1967

Designed by Jack Larkin, Spicers Paper Limited 1967

Designed by Romek Marber, Barnard's Limited 1967

Above and below designed by Sylvia Sewell, Trust House Hotels 1967

Terence Davies: Slow dissolve

Terence Davies

I have long been an admirer of the films of Terence Davies; The Long Day Closes is one of my favourite films. His work is slow paced, lyrical and hypnotic. You have to surrender to the magic that Davies creates for the screen. If you crave fast-paced films with quick cutting, then Davies is definitely not for you. He is in the mould of Tarkovsky, Malick and Erice.

The Long Day Closes 1992

His ability to make films has only been hampered by his refusal to compromise and his films’ lack of big box office appeal, so getting production money has always been a major difficulty. Because of this, there have been many gaps between his times in the director’s chair. 

Following The House of Mirth in 2000, there was nothing for Davies and he had resigned himself to never being able to make another film until he was approached by the council of Liverpool (where Davies was born) to direct a documentary about the city’s history. That project became Of Time and the City (2008): a wonderful, evocative and moving film that when shown at its premiere in Liverpool, apparently had half the audience in tears. The film showed he still had the ability to touch his audience and picked up a mantelpiece of awards. The documentary restarted his career, and The Deep Blue Sea followed in 2011, only marred by an excessive use of Samuel Barber’s Violin Concerto, which heavily and unnecessarily underscored every single emotional moment. 

 

Sunset Song 2015

Four years on, he completed Sunset Song, based on Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s wonderful novel of the same name published in 1932. Sneak previews of the film have been mixed, but I really hope that he has pulled it off and can match the quality of his Distant Voices, Still Lives, which in my view is a cinematic masterpiece. 

 

 Distant Voices, Still Lives 1988

If you have never read Grassic Gibbon, it is well worth doing so. Sunset Song (1932), the first book of the trilogy A Scots Quair, is mostly told using a northeast Scottish coast dialect, which definitely takes you to another place when reading. There was also a rather nice adaptation of the trilogy produced by the BBC in 1971. Via the magic of YouTube, you can watch a rather scratchy 16mm print here. 

And you can see a scene from Sunset Song here

BBC Radio 4 is also running a serialised version of the book read with great rhythm and subtly by Hannah Donaldson. This is perfect for bedtime listening of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s beautifully crafted proses. Listen here.

Coca-Cola: Myth and reality

 

As designers, we have always loved the logo, the bottle and the charm of those nostalgic Coca-Cola Christmas press advertisements – the smiling Santa brandishing that highly desirable bottle to the adoringly expecting children.

But the reality is a far more sinister matter. Whether by design or coincidence, since Jamie Oliver’s highly disturbing programme screened last month about the explosion in diabetes caused by the excessive use of sugar in our foodstuffs, Coca-Cola has been on a charm offensive. A few weeks back, they were out in force giving away free cans to passers-by at my local station in Clerkenwell.

Snapped from a bus a little later.

And they also ran a series of full-page colour advertisements in the nationals. Now it would seem that Coca-Cola has set to work on injecting large amounts of money into medical research in an attempt to counter the negative medical claims against their product. Echoes of the tobacco industry’s attempts at lobbying the benefits of smoking come to mind. 

Snapped in a 99p store.

But I find the behaviour of the large supermarkets that push litre bottles of Coca-Cola and Pepsi in their 2 for 1 offers (always positioned at the entrance to their stores) is shameful and clearly a collusion with these international drinks companies in order to get kids addicted as early as possible – generations to come will be packed into our already overstretched health service to the cost of everyone.

This is one area where the nanny state would be a very good thing.

David Chaloner: Living words

Today is National Poetry Day.

I'd like to mark it by sharing a poem from my late dear friend David Chaloner who left us in 2009.

Here he is in Amsterdam in 2008 where he worked for the last years of his life.

He was a very special human being and is greatly missed by the many who knew him. Here is David...

from Dark Pages Slow Turns Brief Salves (1969)

Hooray for teachers

I was reminded by my girlfriend that it was World Teachers Day on the 5th Oct. She is a music teacher and introduces children as young as five to the piano and violin. She does it with passion and dedication, and I greatly admire her and all teachers for what they do.  

To instil a passion in people, a passion that can change lives is something very special. I salute them all. I couldn't put it better than Leonard Bernstein.

Things I like...

 

One of the all-time most brilliant paperback covers. A wonderful mix of supreme craft and wit produced by the genius that is Tony Meeuwissen back in 1972. It still makes me smile.

book