Old photos are fascinating. Old photos that contain old cars are even better, for me at least. This Flickr set adds another facet of intrigue: old photos containing old cars, in old car dealerships. They are all from 50s and 60s America where subtly hadn’t yet been invented. Red and white stripy buildings, chandeliers, neon signs and huge lettering were de rigueur.

I know nothing of Emma Uber, only that she is good.

In 1964 the Design Research Unit, Britain’s first multi-disciplinary design agency were commissioned to breathe new life into the nation’s neglected railway industry.

Doublearrow has a wealth of information on the identity of British Rail including most the pages from the colossal Corporate Identity Manual.

Really lovely stuff.

Really love the Sky Series by Eric Cahan.

The ongoing Sky Series are initially captured as sunrises or sunsets. Cahan uses as many as four different cameras ranging from 6 x 7 film to digital. Employing dozens of graduated filters traditionally used by filmmakers, his objective is to create a window into a time and a place, and to demonstrate how memories and colors shift and become abstract.

Via Minimalissimo

Robert Ball‘s work seems kind of familiar but even though I’ve never seen it before it looks better than I remembered it. Maybe it’s just better than I expect it be. His cartoony, geometric style is nostalgic and comforting but the attention to detail and clever thinking adds a nice little surprise.

DAIN was the hot topic of last year on the contemporary NYC street art scene and, although there’s nothing startlingly different in each piece, I’m really looking forward to popping into Rook & Raven this Saturday to see some more.

For years people have tried to perfect amphibious transport, most have concentrated on land transport that has then been adapted to work on water. The Iguana 29 is different, it is predominantly a boat but thanks to fold-away tracks it can move on land. It may not be the perfect solution, I don’t imagine its speed on land is blistering, but it is damn cool.

The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America’s most important designers. Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind-bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multi-media exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys.The Architect and the Painter is the first film dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work.

More here

Billmund is an illustrator with a mega cool comic book/Disney style. I try to limit the pictures for each post to just three but I had decided on my trio before I saw the mickey mouse hand holding the gun and, well, I’m a sucker for a pencil sketch. Check out his portfolio here for a thoroughly enjoyable visual treat.

The one and only reason I haven’t posted any of Thibaud Herem‘s work before is because when I first saw it it was on a multitude of other blogs. I was late to the party, but now Herem has updated with a few new illustrations and was kind enough to tell us about it. So before the inevitable deluge of his new work spreads its way over the internet I am going to get in early and post it here… enjoy.

This very nice poster is to promote an exhibition of very nice posters, how fitting. See below for more info.

‘A Celebration’ of September
A Collective Poster Exhibition by Mortar&Pestle Studio at Dreamspace Gallery.

Exhibition Dates: 24th Oct – 1st Nov.
(Opening times 9.00am – 5:30pm Monday – Friday)
Private View: 27th Oct 18:00 – 20:30

Admission Free

Dreamspace Gallery
1-3 Dufferin Street, London, EC1Y 8NA
+44 (0) 207 562 8282

www.adrem.uk.com/dreamspace
www.mortarpestlestudio.com

Tim Biskup an artist from Santa Monica is the man who created the geometric paintings of ladies (and not so geometric owl) you see above. You can see the rest of his work, from vinyl toys and shoes to posters and ceramic bowls, here.

Stippling is not a process seen very often, probably because it is so incredibly laborious, but the results are excellent. Renzo Razzetto, a Florida based illustrator, uses the technique to great effect creating abstract and slightly obscene compositions; a welcome change to the standard domain of stippling, the scientific text book.

I love this illustration by Nick Sheehy aka Showchicken. There are lots more exceptional, but more surreal, drawings over on his site. Pilfered from Tobias Hall, thanks.

I’ve wanted to feature the work of Blake Wright for a while now but have been unsure how appropriate his work is for this blog, but after his recent updates I don’t feel I can put it off any longer. The subjects to his work are usually either fashion (especially shoes) or gay culture but every illustration is riddled with Wright’s brilliantly irreverent sense of humour. His style is so casual that it could sometimes be construed as simply bad, but it fits perfectly with the humour in the images. A lot of his work is NSFW and if you aren’t a fan of nob drawings, or at the very least you don’t find them funny, don’t bother visiting his site.

Trybek is a graphic designer and art director who has now, very successfully, diversified into product and furniture design. His ‘AntiStress’ chairs look just as great when they are a bare wire frame as when they’re covered with brightly coloured stress balls (which are used as padding), albeit not as comfortable I am sure.

I love both the style and craft of Dutch illustrator, Raymond Lemstra‘s work. His ‘About’ section on his site is also very enlightening, giving a real insight into not just him but how he goes about his work and why.

Here is a very nice collection of some of Philip Castle’s non-commercial illustrations. Castle is best known for the work he did for the Stanley Kubrik films A Clockwork Orange and Full Metal Jacket, but his more abstract and satirical illustrations are by far my favourite.

The Cahier Archive is a collection of extremely good Grand Prix related images. Ranging right back to 1951, it is surprising to see so many images that aren’t familiar even to an F1 fan.

What’s also great are the few pictures of the Tyrrell P34 which, surely, has got to be Six’s favourite racing car.

Lord Dunsby is the pseudonym of illustrator Steven Millington. His illustrations are ace, he has a very distinct retro style that lends itself perfectly to illustrations of Emma Peel. Despite having depictions of my favourite Avengers character in is portfolio, I actually prefer his brilliant decorative hand-drawn type.