Looking the Right Way

A while ago, a friend shared this pebble alphabet by Belgian designer Clotilde Olyff. Amazing! I said, assuming the image was Photoshopped. But no, it turns out that Olyff, a typography designer, spent 14 years collecting real, actual pebbles off the banks of rivers and beaches. That is dedication!

Here is an extract from Jan Middendorp’s essay Lettered (2000) about Olyff’s alphabet of stones:

Clotilde Olyff is no reader. She is not at ease with sentences, and not particularly fond of words. She is troubled by letters when arrayed for battle, preparing to strike the reader as useful information or gripping ideas. But she is positively in love with the letter as an individual, fascinated by the infinite possibilities in suggesting its forms, eager to discover its features in the faces of strangers. Even though she makes a living by creating and re-creating letters, the way we perceive these forms continues to fill her with wonder.

Is it our obsession with communication that makes us look for the alphabet in the simplest of forms – circles, triangles, squares? Does it take a particular type of madness to comb the beaches of Les Landes in search of letters created, so casually, by the forces of nature and time?

The pebbles Clotilde Olyff discovers are the product of chance, yet they seem made to be singled out; to be recognized as faces … typefaces or human faces. Like a child pointing out oddly-shaped clouds, Clotilde Olyff shows us that nature can imitate art, instead of the other way round – if you look at it the right way.

The entire natural world is full of wonder indeed – if you look at it the right way.

Spring Spring But Different

Pantone's Top 12 Colours for Spring 2018

So, Pantone has assessed the fashion runways at New York Fashion Week and has produced this selection of twelve colours (plus four more basic neutrals of navy, grey, beige and white) that will influence the fashion industry over Spring/Summer 2018.

Apparently consumers are still embracing colour: ‘The desire for colorful self-expression is a key take away for Spring 2018. The color story is wildly divergent and we see a kaleidoscopic bounty of uplifting shades and feel-good tones. There is a feeling of optimism and confidence driving a new vitality into fashion trends.’ [Pantone]

This is a collection of more unusual tones – more muted or slightly ‘off-key’ – than we usually see in spring hues. I grew up in the Eighties, and they seem very reminiscent to me of that era.

It’s a little confusing to me in Melbourne though, as we have just entered spring. What were Pantone’s spring colours for this year? They turn out to be pretty much the same, but slightly different: a little fresher and clearer. I suspect no one but the most stern fashionista will notice the difference if one were to mix them!

PS. Note how very similar the colour palette in the September calendar illustration below!

Pantone's top 10 colours for Spring 2017

I See Unicorns!

A little while ago I was doing some picture research on vintage advertising on Pinterest, and I came across this priceless piece of advertising for ‘Magical Musk’ (the fragrance of hidden flowers), brought to you courtesy of Max Factor. Because how else would you advertise a floral musk cologne except with a rearing unicorn wreathed in mist? The perfume bottle itself reminds me of a soft-serve ice cream cone! … A unicone, as it were.

Prized Books

I'd love to see the content of this book!They say you should never judge a book by its cover. Well, I am here to tell you that – speaking as one – graphic designers would undoubtedly commit this so-called crime all the time. How could you not? It would not necessarily influence me not to buy a book by an author I love if its cover was not to my taste, but by the same token I probably would not buy an ugly book if I was unfamiliar with the author.

I have very often however bought vintage books solely for the delightful art on their dust jackets, or the beautiful cloth binding on antique books (often embossed or featuring metallic ink) that was once common to most books but is sadly virtually a lost art today, except as a rare fine art form. 

Last week I received a newsletter from Abebooks on that very subject: vintage dustjackets, and I enjoyed perusing their large selection, some of which included inscriptions by the author. Many were extremely expensive – a lovely Agatha Christie novel The Mystery of the Blue Train published in 1928 is priced at US$2,500!

Scroll down for a few that I liked; or you can have a look at over 1,300 on Abebooks.

Hearts & Kisses & Boobies

Here are some vintage hearts and kisses direct from 1973, specifically, Australian Vogue’s August issue. (Can you believe it cost only 75¢?!)

First up is the cover, shot by long-time Aussie Vogue photographer Patrick Russell. The credits read: Springtime, dreamtime. A whole new world of feninbine fashion to choose from. Fresh new pastel colouring to influence a new and beautiful you … The makeup is by Coty, the chiffon scarf imported by department store David Jones, the pintucked smock top is by Marimekko, and the pièce de la résistance, the ‘romantic heart-shaped sunglasses’ were created for Vogue by Sunrelax. The translucent plastic is very pretty.

Now this French Fontarel cosmetics ad titled ‘Jacqueline Matthieu's mouth’ did catch my eye (for obvious reasons), the first time I flicked through the magazine in a secondhand bookstore in country Victoria. But recently my French-speaking Swiss friend flicked through it and read aloud:

‘Jacqueline Matthieu’s mouth is not the mouth of a professional model. It’s the mouth of a French woman …’

What a scream! I was so amused I asked her to translate the rest just for your edification:

‘How is it that French women always look so beautiful, so elegant? It's because French women understand the art of makeup. In France, the name Fontarel is well known. Fontarel cosmetics are ever so pure, so fresh, so natural, so beautiful. Like French women. However, they are not just any cosmetics. No. Even in France they are exclusive. And now, Fontarel cosmetics can be found in Australia. We have the lipsticks and our selection include eye shadows, mascara, foundation and powder. Fontarel cosmetics. Now on sale in selected chemists and shops.’

The last picture, covered in kisses (not my own), is the back cover of the magazine, and features an illustration by one of my favourite vintage fashion illustrators, René Gruau, for Christian Dior’s aftershave Eau Sauvage. (Read about Gruau here. I’ve also posted pictures from a monograph I have on him – click here to view.)

Click here to see ‘The New-Skirted You’ one of the fashion shoots featured in this issue of Vogue.