August Already
Another month, another page of the calendar is flipped over. It’s August already! In August 1933, British Vogue featured this illustration Beauty Number by Benito on its cover. What lovely, graceful lines he has drawn – that simply drawn face is quintessential Benito, as is the minimal colour palette Art Deco.
The issue might be about beauty, but all I’m thinking is coral. The eye immediately is drawn (pardon the pun) to the three strands of coral gracing this underwater lady’s neck.
It puts me in mind of an incredible antique coral necklace I saw in Essaouira, the seaside town of Morocco. Only that one was far more magnificent and would have hung halfway down this lady’s chest. I enquired about the price and was not at all surprised to hear it was €1000. (I had already bought a more modest piece for around €20 in Fez, so I didn’t suffer too many heart-burnings.)
Now I’m all inspired to do a photoshoot in homage to Benito. All I need is a blue wig…
Canberra Propaganda
How I laughed when Rupert Bear sent this email around the department. He said he found it difficult to distinguish the men from the women – and it’s so true!
Quite apart from the period fashion, it’s fascinating to see such an example of the fashion in graphic design as used by political propaganda. There is an air of innocence more suited to the 1950s than the 70s, not to mention a whiff of the Aryan.
On a lighter note, I love high-waisted denim overalls worn by the girls on the sailing boat, the Twiggy look on one girl in the field, and the strawberry-sorbet-dipped white trouser suit on the other. Not to mention the stripper shoes on the girl in the shopping mall! (Note the bubble telephone booths.)
The images make one think Canberra must be one great, jolly school camp, with everyone joyfully romping round together when their hard day’s work is done. I’d love to know which agency was responsible for this publication – it must have been as much a pain dealing with a government department as a lot of fun shooting such idealistic images. I wonder how many cosmopolitans from Melbourne or Sydney fell for it?
The Dorothy Super Swish Spray Mop
What does every mum want? She wants, of course, to make use of cheap (or preferably free) labour by enticing her children to willingly do those tedious and boring household chores that keep her from regularly updating her Facebook status.
To that end, we have designed a mop that is sure to strike glee into her toddlers’ eyes (it is best to start them young so that they form useful habits that will take them into their mother’s old age). They will joyfully take their turn at mopping the floor.
We have glitter stripes running up and down the stick, ribbons streaming from the handle and a bell to ring freely and incessantly throughout the house. (You will enjoy lively conversations with your neighbours about the increased noise level emanating from your property.) Add to that lovely red chrome detailing and a light fixed to the base, and we guarantee you will not be able to tear this little beauty from your children’s grasp.
One of the inspirations behind SNAP’s design: Dorothy’s ruby slippersThe inspiration for this pulchritudinous design comes from Dorothy’s ruby red slippers (‘there’s no place like home’ is, after all, her own motto, and we all know that Dorothy adored helping out her Auntie with the housework); 1970s bicycles and striped hula-hoops. Who could resist this sparkling deliciousness?
*The Super Swish Spray Mop is also available in the ‘Snow White’ colourway of red, blue and yellow.
Check out other entries on Sabco Australia's Facebook page.
Mop Makeover
The mop fairies have been visiting my home and left me a special delivery: a Sabco Super Swish Spray Mop. I’ll be entering the ‘Makeover My Mop’ competition this weekend, making the deadline just in time. Luckily I’ve already plotted out exactly which fairy dust I’ll be sprinkling over this lime-green number. Each entrant receives a mop to keep, which is perfect timing since I was in the market for a new mop anyway. Come back Saturday to view the results.
Bumper to Bumped
So I was a little zealous with sourcing stories for my second issue of Outline magazine before I went overseas at the end of May. By the time I returned and started editing and layout in early July, I realised I was heading towards a bumper issue. That was when I decided to bump some of the stories to the spring edition. I cut it back down to size from about 60 pages to 38, which is what the first issue numbered, and it was published this week. I’ve had some lovely feedback already, which is very encouraging.
The bonus is that now I have much, much less work to do for spring, particularly since I have less time to put it together. Hooray!
[Scroll down for some sample pages.]
Lead page for the feature story on collage artists
Illustrators talk about their collage work
Profile on Carolyn Ridsdale, a Netherlands-based Aussie
Illustrator and business-owner Edwina Buckley contributes an editorial on copyright
A lecturer at NMIT, Con Emmanuelle writes about the glory days before computers
One of those jigsaw-puzzle spreads illustrating my credo ‘make it fit!’
The fun back page: a nostalgic look back at Australian artist Douglas Annand