As the renowned Louise Fili has said, “everything looks better on a tin”. Amongst all the little advertising items I collect, little tins are probably one of my favorites. It seems that nearly everything was packaged in these sturdy little boxes at one point, from laxatives to typewriter ribbons.
From the left: laxative, moth-deterrent, and two typewriter ribbons
I have loved the crackling and whispering of the wrapping papers of oranges since my childhood in the sixties. This is also the reason why I am not a professional collector of these papers. I want to hold them in my hands, not only to look at the broad variety of graphic treasures, but also to listen to them.
Valentine’s Day. The day of love, lust, and crushes. Maybe the first time you saw the object of your affection was across a room, at a party or a bar or on the street. Your heartbeat quickened, your palms began to get slippery, your mouth went dry … because you were in the presence of something that spoke to you, that you felt a chemical connection with, something that made you feel understood and less alone in the world. Well, that’s how I feel when I find a piece of beautiful printed type.
When you visit a flea market, there is great furniture, handmade wares, and delicious street food … and then there are the antique booths. If you’re anything like me, the paper ephemera portion of these booths create the same effect as if I was to see David Beckham across the room. Once upon a time, when I lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I visited the Brooklyn Flea just to encounter such a corner of such a booth. I can’t remember exactly how the conversation began as my memory isn’t what it used to be, but I ended up in a deep conversation with the owner of the booth about some copies of Avant Garde magazine she had for sale.
Shortly after my arrival in Hong Kong in the year 2010, I visited the Hong Kong Art Fair. As the name indicates, it is a commercial event, a trade fair, selling and buying art. Towards the end of walking aisle after aisle through the fair, I found myself in front of a large-sized calligraphy by the internationally acknowledged Japanese calligrapher Inoue Yuichi. My heartbeat changed, rising, and on that very same day, I decided to take calligraphy lessons.
Inoue Yuichi, 龍 (dragon), 1960. 130,5 x 180 cm
Well, this is not the first time that I publicly declare my love for this amazing piece designed by Bram de Does, but I insist on advertising it since I do believe more people should be aware of this part of his work, beyond Trinité and Lexicon.
I was not one of those stamp collector kids that inherit the hobby from their grandparents. I started collecting stamps (as well as riding a bike) while studying Graphic Design in Portugal.
Where I grew up there weren’t a lot of antiques fairs, at least I don’t recall going to any. While studying at University in Caldas da Rainha there was an antiques fair at the city park every second Sunday of the month, and it was there I came across this affordable hobby.
Some of the first stamps I bought.
From left to right stamps by: Heinz Schillinger (2), Hatem El Mekhi, Willem Henri Lucas, Anthon Beeke and Otto Treumann (2)
Henri Friedlaender designed the legendary Hadassah Hebrew typeface. While doing extensive research for an exhibition that included his work, I was lucky to get a glimpse of his design process. Until the revealing of his personal archive (donated to the Israel Museum), his design process was only known through an article he wrote with few rather “clean” images of sketches. In the museum’s basement, wearing cotton gloves, we were taking out item by item from large drawers. The Hadassah material was intriguing. So much was said about this typeface, so much guessing on the design process was done. And here we are, seeing traces of Friedlaender’s own way of designing.
From Friedlaener’s archive. Photo by Eli Pozner, the Israel Museum. This refers for all images in this post
For as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed going to graveyards. Why? Because I’m a romantic at heart. You see, in my view, headstones are the final opportunity for the living to write a love letter to the deceased. Of course, the loved one didn’t carve the actual letters but I like to think that choices were made that allowed the individuals to put their personal stamp of pride and uniqueness on the headstone.
Ferndale Historic Cemetery in Ferndale, California
Matchbox labels are the perfect thing for a typographic treasure hunter on a budget — they’re miniature in size, relatively cheap, and their lovely designs are hard to resist.
In the mid–19th to the mid–20th century, these little matchboxes with promotion space were a very important part of the industries. On these tiny panels were advertisements for pretty much everything including (but not limited to) opera companies, fashion companies, public-service announcements as well as political campaigns.
Variety of matchbox labels, usually about an inch (2.5 cm) high
Last month I visited Warsaw, and Poland, for the first time. I was very excited and ready to feel inspired and surprised by its beauty and also by its letters, as there is no city without them. My love at first sight came from the typeface used in the road signs, known there as “Polskie Pismo Drogowe”. Oh my! so welcoming 😉
