Scrapbook Notebook 1


Scrapbook#1 Cover by Sarah Beetson

Our first ever Scrapbook Notebook is now available to download on http://www.joomag.com/en/newsstand/scrapbook-notebook-scrapbook-1/0328035001398852888" target="_blank">Joomag. Here's a peek at one of the features you'll find in our popular notebook series which was first published in 2010...

A Living Scrapbook by Victoria Pearce

Victoria Pearce takes a journey through illustration of the past at the Museum of Brands and reflects on the changing roles of illustration.

129 Tucked away at the end of Colville Mews in Notting Hill, next to fashion designer Alice Temperley’s sumptuous purple-painted HQ, the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising is conveniently located for any retro enthusiast visiting Portobello Market. Events Manager Francesca Stracqualursi shows me around the lifetime collection of one man, historian Robert Opie, featuring over 12,000 original items; packaging, posters, ads, fashions, toys and games. My journey through the ‘time tunnel’ begins in Victorian times and I spend half an hour wandering through successive decades until I emerge into the present day. I could easily spend an hour in each decade as there is so much to see in each display case; Lyons, Oxo, Lyles Golden Syrup, Kelloggs, Ty-Phoo, Bournville, Heinz, Jacob, Fairy, Brylcreem, Ponds, Guinness; all the brands are here. What makes it fascinating is to see the progression of their brand identities and of course the evocation of my 1970s childhood and long forgotten visits to grandparents; the scent of Palmolive soap is forever associated with my Grandma’s laundry. My Great Uncle and Aunt ran a bicycle shop in the Cotswolds during the 1930s so Raleigh’s advertising and enamel signs relating to the sport are of particular interest. As an illustrator’s agent, I’m particularly drawn to the era between the wars, 1920-1940, due to the sheer scale of illustration which was used both within the design of a product or brand’s packaging and its advertising. This surely must have been a golden age for the artists and illustrators of the day?

 
Photograph by Paul Forrester. Copyright © Robert Opie

In fact Illustration Limited opened it’s doors for business as an illustrators’ agent in 1929 when we were based in Covent Garden, known first as the Kathleen Boland Studio and later the Garden Studio under John Havergal until our own Harry Lyon Smith took the reins in 1997. Since the beginning we have represented some of the world’s leading illustrators including Frank R Grey. Sadly no archive exists. I wonder if I will be lucky and find a book about these illustrators, who they were, how they worked; in a solitary fashion as the illustrators of today, or in more of a studio environment? How did they market and promote themselves? How did they manage negotiations over usage, copyright and fee issues? What was the average deadline? Pre bike couriers and the digital age, did they have stage meetings to look at roughs face to face with clients & did they deliver final artworks in person? Who retained the original & what happened to these? How many commercial female illustrators were there? And was the emergence of photography the major reason for the use of this medium diminishing, or did the loss of illustrators killed in the war also play a contributory factor? Sadly there is no such book in the book shop - but I do find a series ofbooks coincidently entitled “Scrapbook” focusing on the Robert Opie collection decade by decade. I purchase three of these to add to my book collection and hope they may reveal a bit more of an insight.... With the current trend for nostalgia within interior design and homewear design, as reflected in the popularity of brands including Cath Kidston, Pedlars, and Cox & Cox and the Keep Calm Gallery perhaps designers today are missing a opportunity? The idea of purchasing biscuits packaged in a tin designed by contemporary illustrators and designers of today seems to me not only appealing, but sustainable too with the opportunity to re-use. A gift of homemade cakes in a vintage Elkes biscuit tin was a favourite last Christmas and I’ve used this continually for my own baking. So how about some contemporary tins you packaging designers out there?


Photograph by Paul Forrester. Copyright © Robert Opie

http://www.joomag.com/en/newsstand/scrapbook-notebook-scrapbook-1/0328035001398852888" target="_blank"> Download Scrapbook Notebook Issue 1 now...

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