Print Clash - British Design at the V&A

This dazzling booklet, Britain in Brussels, (Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture- JMR1177) from 1958 features an array of clashing patterns and colours. 

Britain in Brussels, drawings by Barbara Jones, London; Central Office of Information, 1958. Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, JMR1177.

The current exhibition at the V&A British Design 1948-2012 showcases 60 years of British design including many exciting patterns and prints like the ones featured here. The V&A exhibition shows that designers have constantly reacted to, and resurrected, older styles to inspire new ones. This continues today as current fashion designers have been looking to the past for ideas.  

Bold patterns and prints are big news in the fashion world, with clashing prints a major trend at Miu Miu, and Dior and Prada using retro Hawaiian shirts in both their men’s and women’s collections.

Blogs like patternbank and contemporary designers like Mary Katrantzou show that pattern is a vital part of design today. What could you make out of these retro designs?

Day 8 - Wales

This book from MoDA's collection features the British Empire Panels by Anglo-Welsh artist, Frank Brangwyn (1867- 1956). These panels are in Swansea where the Olympic Torch will arrive tomorrow.

The British Empire Panels by Frank Brangwyn R.A, by Frank Rutter, Leigh-on-Sea: F. Lewis Ltd, 1933. Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, BADDA3374.

This richly decorated series of 17 panels celebrates and commemorates lives lost in the First World War. Using a pattern of rich foliage, Brangwyn incorporates the national floral and fauna of the allied nations.

At MoDA we have many books on plants and animals which offer a range of illustration styles. The British Empire Panels has examples of Brangwyn’s beautifully observed preliminary sketches and show how the panel designs changed and developed over time.

If, like the Olympic Torch, you find yourself in Swansea, why not go and have a look at them and let us know what you think?

Day 4 - Somerset

As we limber up for the first leg of the relay the torch passes through the historic county of Somerset, home of the city of Bath. Here's a book from MoDA's collection that offers a less picturesque view of this usually pretty city.

A dystopian future for Bath?
The Sack of Bath, Adam Fregusson, 1973, Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, JMR447.

The Sack of Bath is about the threat of destruction to Bath's Regency architecture as development in the city encroached on it's historic buildings in the 1970s. This cover image shows the potential terrible consequences of  not looking after the city's architectural heritage by using a dramatic image and evocative title.The famously elegant  and beautiful buildings usually top the league as a tourist attraction. However, this vision of Bath  wouldn't win any medals for beauty or cleanliness!

Ready, Steady, Go!

Tomorrow sees the beginning of the Olympic Torch  relay around Britain. Starting at Land's End the torch will travel 8,000 miles over 70 days stopping at over 1,000 towns and cities. 

The Torch will be stopping at Middlesex University on the 25th July, just two days before the games begin. MoDA will be tracking the progress of the Olympic Torch using our extensive book collection. As well as traditional architecture and guide books that relate to the locations, we will offer alternative takes on the torch destinations and the Olympics .

And So To Begin kicks off our Olympic relay through the book collection. Although this pamphlet is about sewing, the title sets the pace for our sprint through the book collection.

And So To Begin, Needlework Development Scheme, ca.1950., Museum of Domestic Design &Architecture, BADDA4189.

Look out for our posts over the next couple of months charting  the torch's progress.

Objects in Purgatory

Have you ever received a present you didn’t like, but couldn’t bring yourself to part with?  Do you hang on to stuff for fear of upsetting the person who gave it to you – even if they are highly unlikely to ever know whether you’ve kept it or not?  These are the questions posed by an interesting project entitled Objects in Purgatory. 

William Morris famously instructed us to “have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful”.  Which sounds alright at first glance, but I’ve always thought it a rather hard maxim to live by.  It ignores the place of emotion, sentiment and nostalgia in our attachment to our belongings, whether we actually ‘like’ them or not.  In reality, many of us live with an assortment of objects – some ugly, some perhaps even broken – which have meanings and associations beyond their beauty or usefulness. 

Mostly our homes are much messier and more full of random stuff 

than the 'ideal' presented by furniture catalogues like this one.

'Beautility' furniture catalogue, 1958

Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, BADDA219

The Objects in Purgatory project is run by Julia Keyte, senior lecturer in metalwork and jewellery at Sheffield Hallam University.  Julia is interested in building a collection of images and stories about 'objects in purgatory', to explore the dilemmas we face when throwing something away. The project reveals our strong emotional attachment to possessions, and the way we reflect and develop our identities through our domestic surroundings.

Objects in Purgatory are rather like unwelcome house guests - once they have taken up residence in your home it's difficult to shift them!  Do you have anything in your house which comes into this category?  Why not submit an image and say what it means to you?

Modernist Icons at MoDA

At MoDA we have two Faber and Faber books related to Ben Nicholson (1894-1982).; Circle, which he co-edited, and Art Now, which features his work on the cover.

Herbert Read, Art Now, Faber & Faber, 1960, Museum  of Domestic Design &  Architecture, JMR 596.

Circle, Co-edited by Ben Nicholson, Faber & Faber, 1971, Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, JMR199.

Faber are well known for their strong branding. Both of these covers are from re-printed books from the 1960s and 1970s when Faber and Faber were using a black strip down the sides of their covers to denote cheaper paper back editions.

A simple design done well can go a long way. The classic Albertus font, made by in-house designer, Berthold Wolpe, makes Faber books instantly recognisable and has been in use since 1932, and continues to be used today. What other branding icons of the twentieth century can you think of?

To see more of Nicholson's work visit the Mondrian Nicholson in Parallel exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery, London until the 20th May.

Animal Crackers - The Weird World of Taxidermy

One book that recently caught my eye was Practical Taxidermy and Home Decoration by Joseph H Batty.

 Joseph H Batty, Practical Taxidermy and Home Decoration;  Together with General Information for Sportsmen
Orange Judd Company, New York, 1880) (Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture,JMR1150.

As well as practical advice on catching and mounting your specimen the book has some rather sweet illustrations of the unfortunate animals. These depictions of creatures in the wild are full of personality and action, showing a variety of animals from small birds to big bears. 

Taxidermy is increasingly popular in art and design. Artist Polly Morgan, designer Reid Peppard and Kerry Howley, last years winner of the Arthur Silver Award, all use animals, skin and hair in their work.Unlike Practical Taxidermy... Morgan and Peppard only use road kill or donated dead pets, and, hopefully, Howley’s hair piece came from a willing donor too.

Hair Necklace by Kerry Howley, 2011

Example of Taxidermy work by Polly Mogan, 2007

Artists today go beyond the traditional taxidermy found in Practical Taxidermy... and experiment with the medium. Howley, for example, took inspiration from the wallpaper collection at MoDA to create necklaces made from human hair. I wonder how next years Arthur Silver Award winner will interpret the collection?

Arthur Silver Award - onwards and upwards!

As the deadline for entries for this year's Arthur Silver Award is fast approaching, it seems like a good time to catch up with two of our 'winners' from last year.


The annual Arthur Silver Award was set up specifically to encourage final year Middlesex University Art & Design students to engage with our collections. Each year the winner of the award benefits in terms of a cash prize of £1000 and from the exposure and publicity attached to the award.  We also award highly commended certificates to two other students.  We hope that this year's 'winners' will receive both a boost to their confidence and their respective careers as a result of the award. 


I am sure regular readers will be familiar with the work of Kerry Howley, the winner of last years award.  Kerry used a wallpaper pattern to inspire her series of necklaces made from human hair.  

Following her award, Kerry received a first class honours degree in BA. Jewellery & Accessories from Middlesex University. Her necklaces were featured  in the national & local press helping contribute to a massive interest in Kerry's work resulting in 1.75 million 'hits' on her website a month after its launch. Her jewellery was spotted by Sagmeister, a New York design company, who commissioned Kerry to design a poster for an exhibition at the Louvre in Paris in October. Kerry was also chosen by Craft magazine as one of their six favourite graduates of the year.  One of her pieces went to New York to be filmed for a programme on the Discovery channel. Her other pieces went on show at the National Centre for Craft & Design in Sleaford. 

In 2012 Kerry has two exhibitions coming up. One necklace is due to go to the Milan Furniture Fair (the traditional name of Milan Design Week) for a month beginning the 18th June, the specific exhibition is called 'Ultrabody' and will be held at Sforzesco Castle as part of the Design Week. A little later in the year three necklaces will be heading to Maastricht in the Netherlands for a fashion culture and art event called 'FASHIONCLASH'. They may be worn on the catwalk, though this hasn't been confirmed yet. And of course they are going to Museum of Arts & Design in New York in January 2013.

All of which has rather distracted Kerry from her work but she is determined to get back to designing and thinking about the next step for her artistic career. Kerry is still divided between human hair artworks on commission or conventional silver jewellery following the same inspirations as the hair necklaces. Whatever Kerry decides she intends to return to MoDA for more inspiration.

Marly Zohrehie (BA. Fashion & Textiles) was one of two students who received a highly commended certificate from the judges.  Marly was inspired by the hand drawn style of MoDA's floral and geometric patterns to create a range of finished garments.

Since graduating Marly has been busy gaining work experience and building up her curriculum vitae by working for design studios in London.   She did an internship with MirjamRouden Textile Design Studio and then another more recently with Tom Cody Design.  Marly has taken a break to go travelling and on her return she is hoping to go back to Tom Cody part time, as well as doing paid work to pay the rent, and hopefully to do some of her own art work.


Final year students thinking about entering for this year's award need to hand in their entries by the18th May 2012.


So who will win this year's award?.....Watch this space!

Bauhaus at the Barbican

As a fan of Modernism, I’m very excited about the Bauhaus:Art and Life exhibition opening today at the Barbican Centre, London. It is the first such exhibition in the UK for over 40 years and is a great opportunity to see art and design produced by the pioneering  German art school.

At MoDA , we have a catalogue from the first major Bauhaus retrospective in Britain, Jahre 50 Bauhaus. The exhibition celebrated 50 years since the school’s founding, and toured Britain, Germany and America.

Herbert Bayer, Jahre 50 Bauhaus, 1968, Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, JMR949.

The cover was designed by Herbert Bayer (1900-85), who studied at the Bauhaus under luminaries like Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Laszlo Moholy- Nagy. The unusual square format and text-less cover make it stand out from many of the books in the collection. It’s definitely one of my favourite covers and I look forward to seeing many more designs like it at the Barbican. If you get a chance to go along to the show, I’d love to hear your thoughts.