Cartoon bling

I never really thought about it before but where did Tin Tin shop? Those dapper plus fours, sharp brogues and those (cashmere?) pullovers...

If he’d lived in London in the 1930s (when his character debuted) he’d have had an account at Simpson’s in Piccadilly. Their barber shop and floors of gentleman’s essentials would be just the place to spruce up, before taking off for the moon with your pet dog.

Why is this on my mind? Well Cartier - makers of bling in all its manifestations - have commissioned several illustrators, including Glen Baxter and Jean-Claude Floc'h, to promote their new watch Le Ballon Bleu.

Floc’h is surely a fan of Herge but has his own contribution to make. He has drawn many New Yorker covers and illustrated several books. For this work for Cartier, titled ‘175 – 176 New Bond Street,’ Floc’h illustrates a glamorous shopping trip, as a couple pick an anniversary present in the Cartier shop.

These illustrations are great, unusual, sharp and evocative in a way a glossy photograph of a watch isn’t. More modern too. In this promotional material - as in all the best illustrations - the conjoining of the real and the fictional makes the whole message more powerful.

Just my cup of (Swedish) tea

I was trundling around Stockholm’s Architecture Museum the other weekend, admiring their selection of architectural models. I was especially taken by a Swedish Konsum (co op) shop from the 1930s. Great design, great typeface.

A bit further round the small museum I found a book to love too: Kooperativa Forbundets Arkitektkontor 1935 – 1949, produced by the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society's Architect's Office. It details the interiors and exteriors of the various cooperative buildings of the period – shops, cafes, restaurants.

And who knew?! Fabulous examples of functional pared-down design intended to improve the lot of the everyday worker. The nicely propped photographs in the book, in black and white and colour, have a couple of strategically good-looking workers in each. And they surprise with the weight given over to the visual in them, the importance of the aesthetic. That has been singularly lacking from most histories of cooperatives, especially the British movement.

The cafe interior here is particularly tasty example. It contains basic elements but they are presented with refreshing finesse and detail: smart lights, the continuation of the same tongue and groove and strong lines throughout and robust yet elegant furniture. Unapologetic minimalism for the masses.