Ultra Swank - Retro Adventures

Design

Keeping Up With The Future
Written by Amy Thyr in Design

Keeping Up With The Future

With all the running around preparing for the holidays and shopping for that perfect gift, I always find myself exhausted by New Year’s and once again… no new calendar! Usually by the time I get around to getting one I’ve missed at least January. But not this year! I’ve found some gorgeous mid-century modern calendars – some even free! The best one (I think) is...

Mad Men and Hilton Prove Hotels Not Just for Sleeping

From the The Pierre in NYC to the Cavalieri Hilton in Rome, hotels frequently serve as backdrop to exciting plot points on the hit series Mad Men. Creative ad man Don Draper and his cohorts use hotels to seduce clients and women and to celebrate their latest conquests. The show often provides a fictional peek at the advertising strategies and campaigns of real-life brands and...

The World of Googie
Written by James Vaughan in Design

The World of Googie

It was with reluctance that I took on Ultra Swank’s assignment of a segment on Googie design. I am not an expert. Art historians and critics can be a vicious group. One false move and I could be forever condemned to an underworld of Louis the XIV basement rec. rooms accented with a million velvet Elvis paintings! Oh well, maybe they’ve got some Pepsi in...

Barbie Loves Mad Men
Written by Christopher in Design

Barbie Loves Mad Men

The first Barbie doll was launched in around the same period as the award winning television show Mad Men depicts. So what could be better than to combine the two and release a special Mad Men collectors series for adults. Here’s a fun chance to act out what adventures could happen with Don Draper, his wife Betty and ginger bombshell Joan Holloway in the same...

Return of the Retro Kitchen Appliances

American company Big Chill came up with the brilliant idea of launching a line of kitchen appliances that have modern functionality, efficiency and dependability but that look like they are straight out of the 50s. If you always wanted that pink retro kitchen, here’s your chance – with the added bonus that you don’t have to venture out on a long and slow quest to...

IKEA Design and Identity Through the Years

This book looks really swell! There are probably no one left in the world who hasn’t heard about IKEA with its affordable build-it-your-self-furniture concept. Ingvar Kamprad, the man behind IKEA was only seventeen when started his soon to be blooming enterprise in 1943. Ten years later he opened his first IKEA store in Sweden. Today there are over 200 stores worldwide and as much as...

LG Retro Television
Written by Christopher in Design

LG Retro Television

If you miss the old days when television was black and white and the television-sets were anything but dull looking, LG has a treat in store for you! They call it “The LG Serie 1 Retro Classic TV” and comes with a 4:3 ratio 14 inch display screen which can be tuned to either color mode, sepia or black and white – perfect for watching...

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