Making the most of photos

You know the drill - you get a little snap happy and take lots of photos, only for them to sit in a folder on your computer. If you do get round to printing them, they more often than not, act as magnets for dust in a drawer.


Not any longer! We've been thinking of a few ways to showcase those special memories - from making a feature wall out of a cluster of frames, to hanging huge space-changing canvases.


Take a look at the simple ideas below for easy ways to let the moments that were special enough for you to capture forever, take pride of place in your home.

Fond of font

It’s no secret that Comic Sans is much frowned upon - ask any graphic designer and watch as their face recoils at the utterance of such 'swear words'. So what's considered an artful choice when it comes to font? 

We’ve been having a little look around and have fallen head-over-heels with the following fine examples of typography. 

We're big fans of the artist Rory Dobner's work (take a peek here and you'll see). This logo design he crafted portrays just how beautiful type can be. 

Yes, classic typewriter-style font may have been done-to-death, but add realistic inky blotch marks (and a home-truth quote) and you'll have us swooning. 

Helvetica

Clean, sharp and impactful this font doesn't mess about - possibly the reason it's so often chosen for brand logos.

What fonts are you a fan of?

Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House

Over the bank holiday, we hopped down to Somerset House to see the Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition.

It's in the same gallery fashion that 'image maker' Nick Knight showcased his 2007 SHOWstudio exhibition, an enormous space that's spread over three floors so there's plenty to explore.

Some of our favourite pieces included Peter Franck's curious portraits from his Table Stories series. It's these wholly unusual shots that have contributed to the German photographer winning first place in the Fashion category. 

In the People category, it was the photographer Wendy Marijnissen's moving images that captivated us. Her work features the plight of third world families - documenting their day-to-day lives - and in this short film, Marijnissen shares the triumphant story of mother enduring pregnancy within a make-shift camp, having been forced from her home.

Photographer and journalist James Morgan also caught our eye - with a wonderful image of a child, enjoying nothing more than an underwater ride upon a shark in Indonesia. The snapshot below doesn't nearly do it justice so we whole-heartedly recommend getting down there to see it, and the rest of the exhibition in person.

The Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition is on at Somerset House until Sunday, 20th May.

Petal prints

Although it's a little hard (what with all the rain) to believe that we're venturing into summer, all you need to do is take a little look around you for teeny-tiny reminders. Grassy spaces are dotted with daffodils, the sun's beams break through the clouds, and the shops are flourishing with floral prints. 

It's these prints, and in particular, petal motifs, that we've noticed are having a moment. We're rather taken with the trend so we thought we'd share a few of our favourites. Here's hoping they'll inspire a dose of summer spirit.

tiny Queen Anns

 embroidered napkins by KainKain

the charming ginko

(Though technically a leaf, this was too sweet not to share with with you.)

Marimekko cotton sateen fabric

elegant poppies

our very own Roost wall sticker

romantic roses

upon sweet-smelling soap by Bathhouse

The Kandya Cabinet

A while back, we spoke of our yearning for antique haberdashery cabinets. Alongside these beautifully crafted pieces of storage, there’s another piece of furniture, or rather, a manufacturer that has us swooning; Kandya.

In the post-war 50s, the British furniture company commissioned designers such as Frank Guille and Carl Jacobs to reimagine cupboards, drawers and more. The fruits of the collaboration went on to become Kandya’s signature – cabinets and kitchen units featuring contrasting panels and a playful mis-match of colour. Perhaps the designs were devised in rebellion to times of austerity, or it was about enlivening bleak home aesthetics – maybe it was simply a novel way of using up odds and ends.

One of our favourite antique stores, Elemental, regularly stocks the designer Rupert Blanchard’s up-cycled versions which look to Kandya for inspiration. These creations regularly cost in excess of £1000, but looking at the examples below - it's easy to see why a modern version, or indeed, an original Kandya cabinet, is wholly worth investing in. We best get saving! 

Original Kandya designs

Rupert Blanchard furniture