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Displaying Results for ‘typography’
 
 
  • December 6, 2010

Present(s) & Correct

Tis the season to be a pop up shop, or at least it is if you want to be something brilliant and beautifully styled…Latest on the London scene is one of my favourite online shops, Present & Correct. They are a London based, online stationery shop that specialise in everything that makes me inexplicably want to have a 35 foot long desk. But as for some funny reason they don’t have that as their mission statement, I think they would probably define it more like stationery, vintage products and handmade work from designers all over the world. As expected the translation of their tone, quirk and design elements worked brilliantly in their mini classroom, choc-a-block with goodies like cardboard desks, giant pencils floating in the window, chalkboard, library cart of vintage books, red post box (for letters to Santa…) and the giant stencil shop name in the front window. A shop truly deserving of some square footage…

After getting a bit starstruck talking to Neal, the extremely talented designer/illustrator behind the shop, I spent my time pointing out nearly everything to David for my Christmas list. In the excitement, I decided to bring home a little present, of a pack of paper goodness, a bit early. The envelope is stuffed with vintage ephemera like tickets, stencils, cards, labels etc…all those things as a designer that you think ‘oh if this only looked like classic ticket..’, to then think, ‘but what does that look like’? It will pay for itself several times over I’m sure of it…you can get your own goodies here or make the rest of your own Christmas list—there’s still time!

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To visit the shop, get down to…

5 Back Hill Road, London EC1R

The seasonal classroom open now until 21st December. Monday – Saturday 12-6.30pm
Open until 9pm on thursdays (with mulled wine, hot Ribena and satsumas)

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Can’t get enough of Present & Correct? Check out these past posts for more:

‘Back to My Desk…’

‘From the Desk of…”

‘Clip It, Clip it Good’

‘Bouquet of Newly Sharpened Pencils’

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Images by pillar box post

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  • November 30, 2010

The Makeover

So as you might have noticed, there have been some changes around the blog in the past few days…perhaps some new type, menus and faces? Well, it’s basically an unnecessary job that I created for myself to get out the old colouring utensils and call in some favours from friends (or former friends as they may be after all this). All in an effort to create something that made me smile a bit more than the other hodge podge site that I’ve been using for the past year and a half. This change has been in the works for a while, but wasn’t moving very fast until the past month when thing seemed to kick into overdrive. First up is the new ‘logo’ and brand of Pillar Box Post. I couldn’t help myself and have already ordered (and received) my rubber stamp of the logo. It hasn’t made its way onto anything as yet, but squeals were heard all around London regardless. And to help the logo out a bit is a pillar box graphic to boot…cleaner and dare I say stamp worthy as well. Yikes, already one stamp in, without any applications and I’m already ordering more?!

Also making an appearance are the unofficial staff of Pillar Box Post…an international band of merry men (and women) if I do say so myself. Olive, the french bulldog, appears across the blog, but most permanently in the ‘loves‘ section. Mainly because she is a lovely little cuddlebug and the closest thing I have to a child…so she seemed to sit quite nicely with all my ‘web loves’, err or what you might traditionally know as a blogroll. Any sites I like, be it blog, shop or other— that’s where you will find them.

Betsy, the dutch bicycle, is my means of transportation (okay okay, admittedly, my fair weather transport) in real life, and also in the blogworld. If you visit Betsy in the ‘sign up‘ section you can subscribe by email to the blog, or find out how to find me on a blog reader or twitter. And she promises to deliver in all forms of weather, not just the nice sunny days.

And last but not least is Hedgie, the english hedgehog or Mr. Pillar Box Post. A true Brit, he’s wise and will help you find things in the ‘search’ area of the top header. Aside from the fact my mister is neither ginger, a bond villian (which is the only place I see a monocle and a bowler hat working in modern times) or less than fabulous at finding things in the real world…in the land of the blog, he’s uber efficient.

Also new is a bit of a speed lesson on who I am, so if you are new, or just have forgotten about me…you might take a gander at the ‘about‘ page which I promise will hold something embarrassing about me, even if I don’t realize it now. And some small pictures that may or may not jog your memory as to whether we might have been actual friends in the real world some time ago…

Whew, I think that is about it…hope you like it and may the regularly scheduled posting begin!

In case you haven’t noted, we’ve moved!

The paint isn’t even dry and already we’ve unpacked in our new home at www.pillarboxpost.com

It’s a bit of cosmetic uplift with some room to grow in the future, but most importantly, you can continue to find whatever it is that you like about us at this address. For some of you who already used this url, it will stay the same. No more pillarboxpost.wordpress.com (we’ve shed the ‘wordpress’ part), which means for those of you who subscribe, thank you and and see below to find out how you can continue to get your postal delivery.

To subscribe to the new feed:

Use this: http://pillarboxpost.com/feed/

Or to use a blog reader, click the appropriate link

google reader

bloglovin
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twitter: no worries for you, it’s all is the same!

If you have any questions, please let me know at hello[at]pillarboxpost.com, and hope to be seeing you around the neighborhood!

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  • November 18, 2010

Just a bit of Blurb…

Joy to the world! I’m on a roll, ticking off things on the eternal to do list. This one goes way back a few years…well ongoing really, to find  a way of seeing our photographs after the event, and one that did not involve computer slideshows. I always had good intentions of scrapbooks and uber design but nearly seven years on and no closer to finishing my ‘trip to england’ sketchbook, I thought it was time to get real. I decided to create some photobooks with an online service and had plans to design intro pages and really make my mark on it, even if I wasn’t cutting things apart and glueing them down. Hah, that was two and a half years ago. A few weeks ago I got real and bashed out a cleanly designed book that isn’t full of bells and whistles, but is in fact full of pictures (yay!) and a smattering of information with dates and locations as page folios (where you would usually have page numbers). And there is the odd quote or highlight to a place. Just enough to make me feel like it wasn’t done by someone else, but not enough to send me over the edge.

I chose blurb as the service (because I liked the logo and website. how lazy) and thought I would start with one book to make sure I didn’t get everything set up for a slew of books only to find out their books were awful or something. Originally when I set up the files back in 2008 (no I’m not kidding), they only had an online book service, where you uploaded photos and placed them using their software. I thought that would drive me bonkers not being able to have full control as I would in a design program, so I thought I’d design the book in inDesign as normal and then export it as jpegs and upload an image per page (which would in fact be an image of the design as opposed to individual pictures). Well my patience, or procrastination was a blessing in disguise as now they have a template and upload feature for indesign which meant I could make one pdf, upload and voila, it was done!

I chose the most expensive option with ‘premium paper’ and hardback cover. I didn’t want a messy dustjacket that was only going to get damaged, or a softcover that was bent. The cover is excellent as it is an imagewrap, so if you had a panoramic picture wide enough with a large enough quality you could have an image going the whole way around. I designed ours with the picture bleeding over the spine and wrapping around to the back with a solid colour back with some type. Nice and simple. It covers from mid 2004 to mid 2006 and is under 120 pages and came to £36 with shipping which was definitely worth it. I’m ordering Volume 2 tonight (while I”m on a roll, I might as well keep it going) and then I’ll probably need a volume 3,4 and 5 to catch us up to present day. I’m so excited about our little personal library of coloured books! PLUS this is a definite tick for Number 6 of the ol’ ten commandments 2010. Got to cram them all in before the arrival of Mrs. 2011 in a few short weeks!

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  • November 16, 2010

Tin Time! Part 2

Yesterday, I revealed my guilty pleasure of Christmas tins and you probably thought I was a wee bit crazy excited over some tins. Oh but there’s more! I also picked up a few of these styles (my ability to pack our little studio flat from top to bottom is impressive). The top square tin of shortbread is a bit more from the ‘Sasek’ illustration collection, like the routemaster bus, and has a Pillar Box on it, so obviously that had to make its way into our home somehow!

The Swiss Biscuit Collection tin is a remake of last years uber successful tin which is illustrated by Sanna Annukka, a half Finnish half English illustrator (the artist behind the Keane “Under the Iron Sea” album artwork). The tin has a fabulous matte silk finish with embossing on the illustration and feels super luxurious and not at all like  ’supermarket’ packaging. And again, a great use of type that doesn’t shout ‘I’m a naff package from 2010′. Well done M & S, you’ve driven me to becoming a tin hoarder in one day flat and with enough cookies to last until next Christmas. Guess it’s time for a cuppa tea?

These tins are part of the Marks & Spencer Christmas Collection. Photographs by Pillar Box Post

If you like this, make sure you check out the other Christmas tin on offer from M & S

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Getting into the Christmas mood? Check out these christmas windows from 2009

Part 1: Bonpoint, Aubin & Wills and Ted Baker Christmas Windows

Part 2: Daylesford Organic and Notting Hill Bookshop

Part 3: Loft Design & Toast

Part 4: Pedlars & Anthropologie

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  • October 4, 2010

Time for fall…



I’m a wee bit confused. Back in January I posted about art of a typographic nature…and about it being created by a company called Curb. But now I found Anna Garforths site and it looks like the credit is owed to her for being the creative behind the amazing moss typography on the side of buildings. I still haven’t quite figured out who did/what/where why BUT I love her work. Enough said. And I’m thinking on guerilla leafing Kensington Garden Gates this weekend, who’s with me?

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  • September 29, 2010

The H&M Type

All in one month gap, zara and h&m launched an online shop. Worrying I tell you, especially when it seems like they are all offering better stuff online than what is on the shops. The home line from H & M has some great stuff…err not the naff butterflies, or the questionable colour schemes, but the vintage esque typographic collection. The site is quite akward to navigate meaning that even once I’d found something I liked, I found it hard to find it again (see the striped cushion with a number 36). Nonetheless, I feel these pieces would sit quite nicely in my little flat moodboard I made last year! Of course I’d love authentic vintage grain/flour sack accessories, but when it runs £75 a yard, desperate high street measures must be taken. Has anyone seen any H & M home stuff in the flesh?

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