Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » mini trend: numbers and letters

it’s been forever since i posted a new mini-trend so i was thrilled when our lovely new contributor anne sent over a fantastic roundup of products that showcase numbers and letters. she’s grouped a huge selection of products ranging from wallcoverings to papergoods so click here to view the full roundup- or just click “read more” below. thanks to anne for the fantastic mini-trend!

[image above, clockwise from top left: Bang Letter Tote $22, Sebastian Wrong Typographic Clock $450, not neutral coin bank $26, Monogrammed Pint $6 (in-store only), 8" Craft letters $2.85, Salt & Pepper Blocks $10, Oversized (25") Zinc Letters $98, Sukie Alphabet pillow $72]

[image above, clockwise from top left: clifford initial mugs £11.50, Chocolate scrabble $6: (via Hi + Low), Delancey font (part of Hoefler & Frere-Jones "Numbers" font package), alphabet bowl $16.95, monogrammed mugs$6]

[image above, left to right: Knoll Merge [Helvetica] wallcovering by Abbott Miller (as seen in Ellen & Abbott’s sneak peek), letterpress photo $8]

[image above: Number tea Towel Set £32.50 (via Bloesem)]

[image above: Signature Mugs $10.95 (via H&FJ)]

[image above: Vintage Routemaster Numbers £95 each]

[image above: red vintage pin back letters $3.50]

[image above: random number tags $4.50]

[image above: vintage routemaster number light box £249]

[image above: Hoefler & Frere-Jones Number [font] set $129]

[image above: D*S DIY applique pillows project]

[image above: Alphabet tiles £2.65 each]

[image above: Moveable type in chocolate €0.60/character: (via H&FJ)]

[image above: brown industrial envelopes $6.75]

[image above: Red Metal Letters $85-150]

[image above, left to right: Eclecto pads $5 (CAN), Opaque Red Plastic Letters $75: (via Urban Grace Interiors)]

[image above, clockwise from top left: Helvetica film $20, ABC love card $2.95 (via zzilch), 2008 Calendar Template $3.99]

I love letters so much and these are all terrific (chocolate especially – woohoo!)

I just came across Sweet Bella on flickr, which also looks worth checking out – beautiful white ceramic letters in different sizes.

sarah

i’m so sorry! i’m guessing it’s because today’s photos are hosted on flickr for the time being. the d*s server runs slowly when i add too many images so sometimes i host them on flickr for a day or two to lighten the load.

does your computer have a firewall that blocks flickr?

just shoot me a line, i’m happy to help figure out what the problem is- so sorry for the trouble.

grace :)

Anne what a great post, I love it! I especially love the fancy monogramed mugs from Anthropoloie, I was just about to order them for my nieces for Valentines Day and then realized they will not be available until March…can you think of a website or something equally as cute and pocket book friendly that would be a great treat for two very girly little ones for Valentines Day? I was going to fill the mugs with stickers and candy….
Thanks!!!
Ann H

Hello Grace & Anne,
Thanks for including our letter N totebag – it was such a nice surprise! We wanted to note that we just went through a recent name change from BANG to Loyalty & Blood and have not had a sec to update our website. For now, you can find a lot of our letter totes on Etsy – http://www.loyaltyandblood.etsy.com We have all letters available – please refer to our old site http://www.wearebang.com for the letter details!
Maggie & David

Thanks to everyone for all your kind comments!

StellaQuinn/Ann H, those definitely were a great pick, and just girlie enough. Sorry they’re not available yet (maybe in stores??). . . Honestly my next suggestion for something like this that is very pocketbook friendly is to go to an antique/thrift store. You can find really beautiful individual tea cups and saucers, and for like $5, and you could still fill them with stickers and candy. Check out this post/comments from Perfectbound:

http://perfectboundstudio.blogspot.com/2008/01/collecting.html

Anne

Anne – Thanks so much for this post. I just looooooove type, so this is a real treat!

Stella – Anthropologie has another chunkier version (both the mug and the type) online for the same price. I’ve seen the ones on the trend page in the store already, but it sounds like you can’t get there. I gave these mugs to my son’s preschool teachers at Christmas – filled with cookies and a Barnes & Noble gift card, and they loved the mugs most of all!

Hello Grace, just noticed my ABC Love card, thanks sooo much! I wish you had posted the actual picture of the product, its soo much cuter….oh well! But thanks anyhow. FOR THE READERS, you can also find this card as a POSTER, which I’m proud to say has been selling quite well!
Here’s the direct link to the poster in a frame:
http://www.madebygirl.com/product.php?product=PR-11

Thanks!

Jen Ramos
Designer/Owner
MadeByGirl.com

Anne-
One more thing “letter’ related that I am looking for….large letter ( sort of fancy)vinyl decals….that you could afix to a journal, etc. I once saw some listed in BluePrint but can not for the life of me find the article. Do you know of any??
Thanks again!

StellaQuinn,
First of all, if you’re still looking for an interesting container for Valentines gifts, PaperSource has some cute tins and mini-suitcases: http://paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/cm/3340.001/gifts/containers/

As for the large letter vinyl decals, Blik (http://whatisblik.com/walldecals.html) and Domestic (http://domestic.fr/) are two of the big vinyl fabricators. Can’t say I remember seeing any letters though (although you could make a custom design) – maybe someone should give the idea to these companies. I work with sign companies all the time (Fast Signs type places) and you could easily take a file into a store, and relatively inexpensively have a custom decal made. Another option is a rubber stamp like these from Paper Source: http://paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/cm/3810.001/rubberstamps/rubber-stamps/. But really, one of my favorite things is to design something, and have the local store fabricate it into a custom stamp (in my case Wm Baumgaten in Baltimore: http://www.merchantcircle.com/business/American.Marking.Systems.Wm.Baumgarten.Stamp.Div.410-727-3733... here are a couple I’ve “made”: http://pretavoyager.blogspot.com/2007/08/diy-stamps.html)

P.S. Jen, thanks for the info. I totally missed the [fabulous] poster when I first visited your site.

StellaQuin,
Perhaps these Harmonie Interieure were the wall decals you were thinking of:

http://ohjoy.blogs.com/my_weblog/2008/02/harmonie-intrie.html

http://www.harmonie-interieure.com/home.html

They’re gorgeous!

I am the happiest person right now. I love type faces, I love seeing them on everything. I am really happy that people that are not design related are getting a better appreciation of this. I love it, Love summer.

I am trying to figure out how to purchase the chocolate movable type. I LOVE the idea as a gift for fellow type lovers…
Has anyone figured out how to go about ordering these? Can I customize what it says?
Thanks so much, this is a great post!

I too love type . . . I am fascinated with how the shape and size and style of letters can work together to be art in themselves.

Please visit my etsy shop if you want to take a look!
http://rosiemade.etsy.com

My favorite thing is to find vintage pieces with initials…for whatever my name happens to be at the time. I change my name (not legally) along with my moods and the seasons in my life, and I like to have something, usually jewelry, to represent that identity.

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