Design

This well-illustrated book follows the history of fashion and the social calendar in Britain from the late 18th century to the outbreak of the Second World War, when intricately drawn fashion plates were gradually abandoned in favour of photography. Material is taken from the pages of fashion magazines, showing readers how to dress appropriately and stylishly at any time of year and for any occasion, ranging from weddings and funerals to the making of morning calls and sporting activities.

Once the preserve of sailors and bikers, tattoos have become enormously popular in the last two decades. This book explores their history, illustrating many striking designs and recording the colourful lives of the great tattoo artists of the past. Each chapter focuses on a particular theme: the circus, naval and military, girls, hearts and banners, religious icons, rock and roll, and prison tattoos.

From the illusionistic architectural spaces created by Renaissance mural painters to the op art of the 20th century, this compendium of optical tricks presents a range of images including depth inversions, vibration effects, impossible perspectives, camouflage and anamorphic art. Examples are drawn from the world of psychology, popular illustration and street art as well as the work of celebrated artists such as Escher, Picasso, Magritte and Bridget Riley.

From Georges Lepape and Erté in the era of Art Deco to the contemporary artists Mats Gustafson, François Berthoud and Aurore de la Morinerie, this volume presents Joëlle Chariau’s remarkable collection of drawings and watercolours by some of the greatest fashion illustrators of the last 100 years. Originally published to coincide with the ‘Drawing Fashion’ exhibition at the Design Museum in London, the book comprises three essays on the art of the fashion illustrator and over 160 reproductions.

Due to the expensive materials and craftsmanship required, shoes have often been regarded as status symbols; the desire of owners to display their wealth resulting in extreme designs such as the absurdly elongated toes of 14th-century 'poulaines'. This well-illustrated history of shoe design analyses the many fads of the 20th century and the latest models of contemporary designers as well as investigating footwear styles dating back as far as 3500 BCE – the oldest shoe ever found.

In this illustrated collection of biographies, the fashion historian and BBC television presenter Amber Butchart investigates the lives and sartorial style of 100 figures across five thousand years of history, from Otzi the Iceman who lived c.3500–3100 BCE to the Vogue model Halima Aden, who was born in 1997. She explores how, across cultures and throughout time, people have used clothing to signify power and status, to adorn and beautify, even to prop up or dismantle regimes.

From the corsets and respectable dresses of Edwardian high society to the relaxed styles that reflected the optimism of the early 1920s, this history traces the changes in women’s clothing during a period of radical social transformation. With examples from historical figures, including suffragettes, nurses and factory workers, it highlights how leisurewear and workwear became more diverse and practical, expressing the new-found freedom and confidence felt by many women after the Great War ended.

This visual fashion guide features photographs of 1,000 modern dresses, including shifts, pinafores and kaftans. It places each style in its historical context and offers multiple examples of variations. Technical information about the cut, construction, embellishments, proportion and symmetry of each garment is given, as well as design and fabric considerations, a range of traditional and interpretive examples of the silhouette, and a glossary of terms.

Edward Bawden (1903–89) was one of the most innovative graphic designers of the 20th century, whose work included ceramics, murals, book jackets and illustrations for the Curwen Press and Faber and Faber and advertising artwork, notably for Shell, London Transport, and Fortnum & Mason. The Design series presents introductions to some of the great names in British book design, illustration and typography. Each book is exceptionally well illustrated, with fine reproductions accompanied by a concise and informative essay on a designer’s career or a significant moment in the history of 20th-century design.

With over 1,000 illustrations, this is a comprehensive and chronological history of worldwide fashion, from Greek draped styles and Inca tapestries of 500 BCE to up-cycling and Afrocentric designs of the 21st century, via silk dresses of the Tang dynasty, fantastical headdresses of the 1770s and the Zhongshan suit of 1920s China. Focal points of many garments are highlighted with notes, significant designers are profiled and each fashion period is contextualized with a historical timeline.

Award-winning journalist Harriet Quick describes shoes as objects of ‘fascination, status and desire’ in this lavish volume, presented in an embossed box with a ribbon bookmark. Over 300 images by British Vogue photographers spanning from 1920 to 2015 are organized into five themed chapters including ‘Cinderella’, with bejewelled pumps by Manolo Blahnik, and ‘Fetish & Fantasia’, featuring Jean-Paul Gaultier’s corset-laced, thigh-length boots.

From horse-drawn trams and the opening of the first passenger railway in 1836, to the UK's first urban cable car, this engrossing volume traces the history of the transport systems that have made a vital contribution to the development of London. With informative texts and hundreds of captioned artworks and photographs, the book covers topics such as transport during wartime, the challenge of the motor car and architectural design as well as the trams, trains and buses that have kept London moving since 1800.

With more than 300 designs reproduced from Henry Wilson’s The Floral Patterns of India (2016), adapted for self-adhesive tape strips, round stickers and oblong gift tags, and printed in many different colours, this book provides the finishing touches for gifts, whether you are using plain coloured wrapping paper or matching Indian designs.

Taking inspiration from the decorative arts of India as illustrated in Henry Wilson’s The Floral Patterns of India (2016), this book comprises ten sheets of wrapping paper in ten different designs, along with matching gift tags. Unfolded, the sheets measure 680x480mm and are perforated for easy removal.

This set of wrapping papers revisits the 1950s with strong, colourful designs that are now enjoying something of a revival. There are ten folded sheets (680x480mm when unfolded) in ten different designs, with perforations for easy removal and twelve co-ordinating gift tags.

Slightly off-mint and felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

Starting with his drawings for Beatrix Potter’s previously unpublished Tale of Kitty-in-Boots, Quentin Blake narrates his life as an illustrator through the projects he has worked on since 2012. The book reveals the remarkable variety of Blake’s work, with examples that range in scale from book illustrations for The Fables of La Fontaine to wall-sized drawings for the Jerwood Gallery in Hastings, and across subjects from Claridge's Hotel (for a champagne advertisement) to the post-apocalyptic landscapes of Riddley Walker.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has been helping people recognize risk since the increase in road traffic and traffic accidents during the First World War. Drawing on a recently discovered archive of artwork, this book looks back at how public information posters – dealing with safety at work and at home as well as on the roads – used slogans and colourful graphics to keep people safe in the period between the 1920s and the 1960s.

Reacting to the appearance of Superman in Action Comics in 1938, Marvel introduced Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch in their new publication the following year, and have since entertained readers with the adventures of Spider-Man, Captain America and The Fantastic Four, among many other characters. This illustrated celebration charts the history and development of Marvel Comics and its characters up to the present day and contains hundreds of early sketches, artworks, covers, comic strip excerpts and pieces of memorabilia. Slightly off-mint.

One of the most celebrated graphic artists of contemporary comic books, Alex Ross was obsessed with the genre from early childhood and his breakthrough series Marvels in 1994 laid the groundwork for creating the unified Marvel Universe of the film franchise. This retrospective of Ross’s work tells the artist’s story and includes hundreds of drawings, paintings and photographs of characters including Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man and Black Panther. Slightly off-mint. Felt-tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

Presenting the work of more than 150 street artists active in London today, each entry in this volume features archetypal works by and information about each of them, from the well-known Banksy and Stik to emerging names including Elbow Toe and Public Spirit.

For more than two decades, the Pop movement spanned the worlds of music, art, fashion and design. This book chronicles its development from the Beat Generation of the Fifties through the optimism of the Sixties to its demise amid the angry nihilism of punk. Almost 300 illustrations feature posters, paintings, record sleeves and clothing, including work by Andy Warhol, Mary Quant, David Bailey, Robert Crumb and Zandra Rhodes.

Slightly off-mint