It’s that time of year again, the festive season is upon us. For those of you with ‘typographic’ loving friends, family or colleagues, (mustn’t forget the secret santa) a solution is at hand! Below are a few items we have stumbled across that may appeal to the discerning graphic design lover or you may even want to add to your own wish-list.

Checking the time just got interesting. The font clock designed by Sebastian Wrong is a 21st century take on the British 24 hour clock design icon. Twelve different fonts are printed within the mechanism of the clock providing a random, mixed display of graphic language within a single time piece. Available in three sizes.

These typographic pillows would look great in any type lover’s interior. The eclectic designs that make up the collection of Bonjour Mon Coussin are inspired by found vintage documents, postcards or drawn from the creators’ own world.

The latest in the popular series of typography based calendars from Japan. The new Typeface calendar 2010 edition features the Calson 540 typeface, a 1902 variation of the original William Caslon design, considered to be one of the first English typefaces.

If design isn’t your cup of tea, (excuse the pun) this mug might not be for you! The kerning mug is an ideal gift if you want to impress your colleagues on your return from the christmas break, at least for a day or so.

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January next year, the Royal Mail will be issuing a collection of stamps depicting 10 classic British album covers as shown below. The stamps will be uniquely shaped to accommodate a vinyl disc poking out of each record sleeve.

They are (clockwise from top left): Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell / Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head / Blur’s Parklife / New Order’s Power Corruption & Lies / the Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed / David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars / Primal Scream’s Screamadelica / Led Zeppelin’s IV / Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells / the Clash’s London Calling.

It’s a shame that the classic first album ‘Step One’ from Steps didn’t make it into the final cut …maybe next time.

Masters Allen have recently been given the opportunity to produce album artwork for talented musician Jamie Kane.

We were very excited to work along side Jamie, after all album covers are a great area to stretch those creative legs! Think Factory records, Joy Division, New Order, Peter Saville etc.

The album entitled ‘On Bended Knees’ was recorded in the winter of 2007 and has proved to be very personal to Jamie. This is due to the fact that for the first time Jamie produced and played everything on the album with a little help from pedal steel players and gospel singers. This provided an excellent starting point for us to throw around some ideas.

Working from Jamie’s inspiration for the album, namely religion and it’s negative connotations we explored many different avenues. The final artwork was reached through a mixture of the original inspiration and the birth of Jamie’s second son.

Jamie has uploaded the tracks onto his myspace page; www.myspace.com/jamiekane
The page also contains further details of Jamie’s influences and other projects, so take a look.