Smashing Magazine we smash you with the information that will make your life easier. really.
Celebration Of Vintage and Retro Design
By Smashing Editorial, April 21st, 2008 in Inspiration | 192 Comments | Forum
Retro and vintage designs are often considered as being outdated, looking old, unattractive and dull. That’s not true. Although compared to modern design, retro is mostly a completely different realm, it has a large variety of benefits modern graphic designers often tend to overlook. And that’s a pity. Because we, as designers, can learn a lot from it.
Nostalgic designs arise feelings, awake memories and better manage to involve broad range of readers even although they don’t really realize it. Furthermore, retro can look cool and offer readers or visitors something they haven’t expected at all. So why not try to impress them with some impressive vintage art for a change?
Below you’ll find the celebration of retro and vintage design — ads, illustrations, book covers, pins and posters from 1920-1980s. The images weren’t necessarily created in the mid of 20th century. Vintage is living today which is why this post also features artists and designers who make use of the vintage and retro style in their works.
Please notice: if after reading this post you’ll experience some need for buying ice cream, chewing gum or eating sausages, it’s not our fault.
Retro Cosmic
Retro Cosmic
Designs by James White.
Robot Rock!
Daft Punk’s recent cover is stylish and cool: retro is in.
Yopta project
Evgeniy Kiselev’s design project.
Andy Gilmore
Playful colors in the retro-look.
Packaging and Advertisement
Ice Cream Man
A contemporary illustration.
Fortunello Advertisement
This one is so effective! We’ve bought us an ice-cream immediately after we’ve seen this ad.
Hudson - Circus C
Page from “Circus Alphabet”, a Whitman Tell-A-Tale Book, 1954. Illustrated by Patric Hudson.
Boys and Girls
Betty Crocker’s New Boys and Girls Cook Book, 1965.
Jantzen Swimsuits
Designed by Pete Hawley, 1949.
Petri Wine
Everything tastes better with Petri Wine. Designed by Nick Carter in 1949.
Say their names!
The Thinking Book by Adelaide Hall, pictures by Dagmar Wilson, 1963 (1970 ed.).
Remarkable!
A mid-century ad print.
Kiss of perfection
‘Teen Oct. 1961.
Soviet Champagne Ad
Simple and beautiful.
25 Project
“Southern California has this stupid “Click It, Or Ticket” slogan for fastening your safety belt. But they also just have the boring silhouette “Fasten Your Safety Belt” signs around, these would be much cuter!”
Licor del Polo
A Spanish advertisement of the Licor del Polo, 1960.
Wrigley’s Spearmint gum ad
Wrigley’s Spearmint gum ad from Real America Magazine April 1935.
Magazine Ad - Scout (USA)
1961 Magazine Advertisement. “Meet the Scout: a whole new idea in low-cost transportation”. International Harvester Company.
Car ad
1948 Oldsmobile Series “60″ Convertible Coupe.
Skin creme ad
Do you actually believe that this ad is from 1970s? TV Radio Mirror, July 1972.
Space Art
Bohn Aluminum & Brass, 1947.
Colossal Cocktails
“Back of an old matchbook purchased on eBay, of course. Would make a great party invite.”
Diabolical Appliance Mavens
“Life magazine”, March 9th, 1953.
Calendar Hotpoint December
1953 advertising calendar for Hotpoint Appliances, featuring “All Electric” kitchens - December.
1957 Secret Squadron Official Manual - cover
From the “1957 Secret Squadron Official Manual and Code Book” — a promotional item from Ovaltine, sponsors of the Captain Midnight TV series. The Captain’s airplane was called the “Silver Dart.”
Flight through instruments
Telstar Logistics: “Flight thru Instruments” and the Fine Art of Instructional Illustration.
Traffic of the Future
Retro-futurism.
1960’s Advertising - Packaging - Superga (Italy)
1969 Packaging. “Superga”, Advertising Office: Unimark International. Torino, Italy
I Wake Up Screaming
Classic. How many books with such covers have you read in your life? Book cover from 1941.
Vintage Pins and Vintage Buttons
Brooch Cluster-Retro Blue Dots On Brown
Crafting 365, day 173 - pink teacups
Posters and Typography
1960’s Advertising - Magazine Ad - Film special (Italy)
1969 Magazine Advertisement. “Film Special: bimestrale sui problemi della comunicazione audiovisia”. Advertising Office: Studio S & F Cappellato. Milano, Italy
Scott Hansen
Scott Hansen’s work is extremely powerful. These poster impress with the effective use of colors and geometric forms.
Tipógrafia
A poster with a nice pattern. Simple and effective.
TV Ad
A retro-poster from 70s.
Ulrich Schnauss Poster
A poster for the Electronica concert of Ulrich Schnauss.
Retro DVD Booklet
A clean DVD-booklet in a retro-look.
For The Love Of Letters Poster
Nick Sherman with an interesting use of letters.
Graphis Annual - 1965/66
“Ad for a printers by Karl Gerstner. This series of ads changed over the years it was used by simply changing the colour of each plate and the order in which they overprinted. “
Graphis Diagrams 1974
Graphics Design from the 70s.
Archigraphia
Olympic Pictogram designed by Otl Aicher in 70s.
Thirty years of design at MIT
A classic by Jacqueline S Casey.
Vintage Logos Collection
Collection of vintage logos from a mid-70’s edition of the book World of Logotypes.
B&W
Outstanding typographics posters from 1969.
Five British Graphic Designers
A timeless poster created in 1969. “Five British Graphic Designers”, by Studio Coppola from Milano, Italy.
Say yes! to analog design
Yes studio hooked up a sweet 12″ cover for the UK band the stand. The album is from 2005.
são paulo - braSil
São paulo, Brazil, by Murilo Parra Contro.
97. Book Cover
A book cover with an interesting use of geometric forms.
Beethoven Poster
A minimalistic poster from 1955.
Burundi 57
Beautiful old-stylish typographic poster.
Last Click
DVNO Music Video
Retro in action.
Retro Toy Packaging
Packaging design goes vintage.
A Retro Bus
Buses can also smile. Cutie!
knick knacks
How sweet is that? Sculptures from the last century.
Sausage!
OK, now it’s time for a coffee break.
Sources and Resources
- Gallery on Graphics Design History
A huge photostream with works of masters of graphics design in the last century, such as Lester Beall, J. C. Leyendecker, Paul Rand, Ray and Charles Eames, El Lissitzky and, of course, Swiss graphic design. - Graphic Collection
Old issues of Graphis, international journal of visual communication. Typographic inspiration from 50-70s. - grain edit
Grain edit is focused on classic design work from the 1950s-1970s and contemporary designers that draw inspiration from that time period. - Retro-Futurism
This site which features paintings from the 50s and 60s by German futurist visionary Klaus Bürgle, plus other German/Austrian space art painters from that era. - Get Go Retro Blog
A blog dedicated to retro product design. Sexy! - Plan59.com
A large selection of posters and ads from 1950s. - Duke University Library: Ad*Access
A collection of literally thousands of ads from 1911 to 1957. - The Retro Kid Pool
- Pins Pool
- Badges Pool
- Vintage Advertising Pool
- Retro Art
Rohil Sinha (April 21st, 2008, 2:06 am)
ohh my God !! Isnt that stunning !
jimmy james (April 21st, 2008, 2:18 am)
On the ball yet again!
Keep up the goodness….
S.V (April 21st, 2008, 2:37 am)
Wow. Amazing post. Thanks!
Livingston Samuel (April 21st, 2008, 2:47 am)
Wonderful Collection!!
great inspiration, I’m planning to study them and learn from the old techniques, so that I can improve myself :)
thanks a lot! keep the working going.
Defunkid (April 21st, 2008, 2:48 am)
Spanish Civil War Posters
Link [pares.mcu.es]
liam (April 21st, 2008, 2:52 am)
Sausages look nicer when they’re Vintage.
Nice list, everything looks beautiful. Its a great style.
Eli (April 21st, 2008, 3:04 am)
Love the dog one :) All very inspiring stuff though.
Srecko Bradic (April 21st, 2008, 3:11 am)
This subject is fantastic!!! Special to note that while today we all have computers and make design easy, all what is show above is hand made, brushed or airbrushed, foils precisely cut… Must say that all above presented design is still very strong and in some way fresh!
Thank your placing this topic :)
Srecko Bradic
Link [www.sreckobradic.com]
Razvan (April 21st, 2008, 3:29 am)
Thanks for the Monday inspiration! :)
ptamaro (April 21st, 2008, 4:01 am)
This is an amazing collection — snapshots in time — what’s old is new…
Mithun P Sreedharan (April 21st, 2008, 4:24 am)
Awesome !!
Claudiu (April 21st, 2008, 4:30 am)
It’s great! Suuupeerr!
James (April 21st, 2008, 5:18 am)
I love Jen Segrest’s free retro desktop pics and patterns at
Link [www.pixeldecor.com]
Allison (April 21st, 2008, 6:36 am)
yet another inspiring post to get my creative juices flowing :) i love you guys!
Matt Mikulla (April 21st, 2008, 6:41 am)
I find tons of inspiration by going to antique malls as much as possible. I created several Link [artrogue.com] similar to the knick knacks image above.
JY (April 21st, 2008, 6:44 am)
before computers(photoshop filters), designers *actually had to have design/illustration skills*
that’s why i have much respect for retro arts. love this post.
Matt Mikulla (April 21st, 2008, 6:48 am)
I find tons of inspiration by going to antique malls. As a result I have created several Link [artrogue.com] similar to the knick knacks image above.
Malls have tons of old posters, toys, photographs, clothing, and other really great stuff to get the creative juices flowing.
Abdel (April 21st, 2008, 7:34 am)
Hello
Take à look at Link [yeaaah-studio.com]
leroi (April 21st, 2008, 7:49 am)
my godness…. superb!
Jason Beaird (April 21st, 2008, 8:15 am)
I love retro-modern design. Thanks for the inspiration!
Braintrove.com (April 21st, 2008, 9:36 am)
Fun!
Robert (April 21st, 2008, 9:55 am)
It’s absolutely great! I love this list :) Cheers
Ash (April 21st, 2008, 10:04 am)
I have no words to describe the growing passion that I have for your website !
Thanx for these visuals !
GoingLikeSixty (April 21st, 2008, 10:43 am)
Anybody watch the DNVO video and see the resemblance to the HBO opening sequence? Wonder which came first.
Dave (April 21st, 2008, 10:56 am)
That’s a great resource list you guys have put together. That DVNO music video was absolutely amazing.
serg (April 21st, 2008, 10:56 am)
amazing! great retro style, love it! :)
cew (April 21st, 2008, 11:26 am)
That would be Jantzen swimsuits. (Portland, OR)
Zinsk (April 21st, 2008, 12:01 pm)
Beautiful … I love retro design and I love that it is making a loop back and influencing some of the more modern stuff we are all working on. Great list.
Optimator (April 21st, 2008, 12:39 pm)
Fantastic! Marvelous!
I’m so happy I found this site.
kinski (April 21st, 2008, 1:19 pm)
awesome memories! i surely had a flashback in design-history :) thx for that……
ferdinand (April 21st, 2008, 1:42 pm)
This is a great post. I’m so much into retro design right now and you’ve featured my 2 favourite artists by far: Scott Hansen and James White. There is one missing though: Daniele de Nigris. I’ve done a small article on him. Read it at Link [www.fudgegraphics.com]
Keep ip the great work!
Liz (April 21st, 2008, 1:44 pm)
This is great! If you dig all this stuff, check out this site i found a while back that has Link [www.retrostockpix.com], so cool!
Jason (April 21st, 2008, 2:22 pm)
i knew with a few “page down” clicks i was to find scott hansen (iso50) stuff :)
Great vintage collection! Long live avant garde!
Philip (April 21st, 2008, 2:31 pm)
You should really include some of the art from Bioshock. That’s retro to the extreme. Good stuff.
Sarah (April 21st, 2008, 2:50 pm)
Loved this entry! So inspiring. This site just keeps getting better and better!!
Taylor (April 21st, 2008, 3:08 pm)
Fantastic Work and Research….what is old is new again!!!
bernie (April 21st, 2008, 3:08 pm)
you have to check out Link [blog.modernmechanix.com]. incredible collection!
frankfurter (April 21st, 2008, 5:26 pm)
that last picture, the sausage…….*drool*
on diet……. have to……… resist…..
quasi (April 21st, 2008, 6:00 pm)
Speaking of making your life easier, really: do not forget that Mothers’ Day is coming up! This year, forget the flowers, can the candy, and buy your cat-loving Mom something she’ll REALLY appreciate… her own copy of my hilarious book, The World Is Your Litter Box! It’s classy, it’s unique… and at a mere $9.95 in the U.S. ($10.95 in Canada), it’s WAY less expensive than flowers or candy! If you pre-order the book now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or one of the other on-line booksellers, they’ll ship it on its release date (May 6th) and it should arrive just in time to make this Mother’s Day a true delight.
vladtepes (April 21st, 2008, 6:30 pm)
I need to cry …..
: )
Aric (April 21st, 2008, 6:53 pm)
Smashing!
I’ve not have the chance to lay eyes on retro designs like these because i always thought they were old and outdated. Now I see what i’ve been missing!
Great collection, great post.
Keep it up!
Zul Azman (April 21st, 2008, 6:59 pm)
Smashing Retro!!
Trisha Cupra (April 21st, 2008, 7:46 pm)
I love retro.
And it stands out, especially now that ‘Web 2.0′ has made everything shiny, glossy, and 3D.
Imagine how eye-catching a retro-style ad would be in a current magazine. If you’re advertising a product as being a ‘good old-fashioned’ something, this would be the perfect style to use.
K.K.Shankar (April 21st, 2008, 7:50 pm)
Great Collection!….. Kepp it up!
IT Outsourcing (April 21st, 2008, 9:24 pm)
Imagine how eye-catching a retro-style ad would be in a current magazine. If you’re advertising a product as being a ‘good old-fashioned’ something, this would be the perfect style to use.
Link [www.mag-corp.com]
Joe (April 21st, 2008, 9:25 pm)
It should be ‘I’m AN official Beatles fan.
Nirav (April 21st, 2008, 10:07 pm)
awesome is just not the word!!! I bet there has to be a word better than that to describe what i have just seen!!!
Ashu (April 21st, 2008, 11:03 pm)
Omg this is great stuff :)
Keep it up!
Erietta (April 21st, 2008, 11:36 pm)
If you liked this dose of retro check out Gene Gable on Creative Pro’s site. He has been digging up retro designs for years, scanning napkins, matchboxes, airline graphics. It is lovely joyful stuff. Check out Link [creativepro.com] and go right back to the beginning of the archive.
Raf (April 21st, 2008, 11:49 pm)
i was inspired by the Beethoven example and I made an programatic animated version in flash. If anybody’s interested, I posted it Link [www.herecomesthescience.com] and it has the source code
Jon Aizlewood (April 22nd, 2008, 12:24 am)
Fantastic inspiration/collection, once again!
It’s a bit scary to think of how boring my morning coffee used to be, before Smashing! Please keep it up!
thahy (April 22nd, 2008, 3:15 am)
it’s amazing!…
today the world is so dark and gray…
teodz (April 22nd, 2008, 5:11 am)
some of the ads presented at the end has also been featured in a documentary film about Typography, ‘Helvetica’
pandabeard (April 22nd, 2008, 8:04 am)
awesome!!! thanks for this!
bardo (April 22nd, 2008, 9:33 am)
I’ve had that betty crocker cookbook for kids since I was a kid! I’m saving it for my daughter. Snickerdoodles, yum!
BillyK (April 22nd, 2008, 9:36 am)
English. Do you speak it?
John (April 22nd, 2008, 9:37 am)
Does anyone happen to have the main typeface used in the Electrolux ad? Specifically the line saying, “the cleaner you never have to empty!” ?
Have been looking at a lot of vintage stuff lately, even things as far back as 1940’s and such.
I’m not very good at type design so really good typefaces I can find (whether free or bought) is always good.
Vitaly Friedman & Sven Lennartz (April 22nd, 2008, 10:08 am)
@BillyK: could you please point us to mistakes instead of shouting loudly without any concrete examples?
Allen (April 22nd, 2008, 1:03 pm)
For some really great examples, and a funny look at them you have to check out James Lileks. Link [www.lileks.com]
and spend hours… nah… DAYS laughing your a** off at the Institute of Official Cheer (link on right gutter)
Yaco (April 22nd, 2008, 2:28 pm)
Amazing. the new, becomes the old, becomes the new. I’m a big fan of Hansen’s work, and is definately someone who has embraced respect for vintage and the possibilities of modern software to produce something entirely his own.
Colombia says hello.
Gio (April 22nd, 2008, 2:51 pm)
I love the way old designs, vintage designs, have a playful quality that contemporary designs seem to replace with cynicism.
Link [gentrystyle.com]
Website Design (April 22nd, 2008, 9:50 pm)
yet another inspiring post to get my creative juices flowing :) i love you guys!
visit: Link [www.mag-corp.com]
polaris (April 22nd, 2008, 10:57 pm)
Link [bbs.3736.net]
Cait Lynn (April 23rd, 2008, 8:05 am)
“Smashing” job on this post : ) Very informative, eye catching and fun. Love it!
Santanu Bhowmik (April 24th, 2008, 12:05 am)
Awesome. I liked it.
jambox (April 24th, 2008, 1:46 am)
wow great stuff
Beppone (April 24th, 2008, 2:15 am)
Veeery nice post.. thank’s
Justin (April 24th, 2008, 3:26 am)
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Roberta Seldon (April 24th, 2008, 8:46 am)
Nice collection. I’m especially fond of “Retro Cosmic” and “Yopta project”.
Terri Stone (April 24th, 2008, 10:12 am)
Gene Gable writes a weekly column on retro stuff he’s collected and scanned:
Link [www.creativepro.com]
Dave Q (April 26th, 2008, 11:59 pm)
Joyent has this nouveau vintage look….
Link [joyent.com]
Thanks for the post!
Koldo Barroso (April 27th, 2008, 1:27 am)
Wonderful article!
We got inspired from vintage publicity illustration, designs and fonts for our Link [www.intuitivedesigns.net]Link [www.intuitivedesigns.net].
Citrus Tree Designs (April 27th, 2008, 10:10 am)
I LOVE THAT VIDEO…
digital-artist (April 29th, 2008, 3:35 am)
Great Article!
I am highly inspired…
Link [www.digital-artist.de.vu]
mag (April 29th, 2008, 9:35 pm)
A blog dedicated to retro product design. Sexy!
visit : mag-corp.com
Dennison Uy - Graphic Designer (May 1st, 2008, 3:20 am)
Awesome list. Could use more retro examples though!
Link [blog.codesignstudios.com]
Aster (May 2nd, 2008, 2:38 pm)
Hey! The swimsuit ad is from “Jantzen Swimsuits, Designed by Pete Hawley, 1949.” not “Antzen”. They’re still in business.
Don Mondo (May 9th, 2008, 7:01 am)
“Vote” poster is pseudo-retro.
Mildred Pierce (May 10th, 2008, 8:28 pm)
Great graphics
Link [www.mrsmildredpierce.com]
Secret Owl (May 18th, 2008, 11:06 pm)
Jesus, this list is bloody amazing! I’m quite obsessed with vintage and retro looking design, I think it’s the nostalgia factor.
Scott Hansen happens to be one of my favorite designers. He also makes fantastic music; I’m rather jealous of all his skills.
james davis (May 23rd, 2008, 5:36 am)
i love retro desing and chaz
Lisa (May 24th, 2008, 7:54 pm)
Amazing. And not only that, I owned the Betty Crocker Cookbook for Boys and Girls; retro even in 1978. I felt like I just opened up a box from my childhood.
Lauren (June 1st, 2008, 7:43 am)
Thanks for the inspiration!
John Mayer (August 14th, 2008, 2:50 am)
Visit for more details
Jonathan (August 22nd, 2008, 4:50 pm)
i somehow knew daft punk would be somewhere on here because they are amazing and retro at the same time…and justice video was a nice addition also…great topic…very inspiring
nate (October 13th, 2008, 9:53 am)
These designs are totally photoshopped! Look at the pixelation!
Ana (October 17th, 2008, 3:27 am)
Great, it brings back the memories. How was advertising naive and yet so wise in industry product!!! Love the retro!!!
Danish (November 6th, 2008, 2:24 am)
I would like to add the beginning of Evanescence’s video - Everybody’s Fool - it’s so cool retro style and just so on the right place!
Jony (November 18th, 2008, 4:09 pm)
Hi, i am jony. I live in Bangladesh. I read in Shanto-Mariam University. My e-mail address is Link [www.jony_smuct@yahoo.com] This Picture is so nice.I like all the Picture.
Tina (January 12th, 2009, 4:56 pm)
Awesome Collection. Cool retro stuff here also
Link []
Talita Cabral (January 20th, 2009, 5:00 am)
Wow!!!
Incredible…
I didn´t blink at all!!!
Caylin Groenewald (February 4th, 2009, 12:24 pm)
wow, great collection. Thanx for the inspiration.
jai (February 7th, 2009, 9:17 pm)
thanks a lot for the info!! it helped me in my research paper about vintage art!! thanks!!
Alfonso (March 5th, 2009, 7:47 pm)
it´ll be sweet to see some artwork from the olympic games celebrated in Mexico 86′…
beautiful compilation!!!!!
Sam (June 17th, 2009, 3:30 am)
WOW! that’s great work. I’ve got very much to learn.
thanks
Rbvmjaon (June 22nd, 2009, 7:14 am)
I7edto comment5 ,