Ratatouille End Titles - Retro Design (Ratro design?)

Pixar pays homage to illustration of another era with this retro end credit sequence.

Early 60's Record Cover Designs

above: Los 3 De Santa Cruz, Piel Canela (circa 1960)

Above: (45') The Di Mara Sisters - Cha Cha!! Mambo!! Samba!!

This sleeve design is so basic you can practically feel the designer cutting out the photo and crumpling paper for the background effect... which is probably exactly what he/she did.


Above: (45') O Simeli - Saint Jean de Luz (circa 1960)

These 3 record sleeves are examples of design for 2 & 3 colour printing, which was a cheaper printing solution till very recently.

I haven't heard O Simeli yet to discern any reason for the naive illustration style. Is it sung by children, for example? Or perhaps the artist felt it expressed the simple joy of nature.

The O Simeli cover shows the deliberate use of off-register colour, which became distinctive of much mid-century graphic design, though in this example also naively handled.
Is this an early example of a style not yet clearly defined? (I think so.)
Or rather a loose approximation of something already being done with more assertive style elsewhere? I'm curious to know and the style deserves more and clearer examples so I'll be sure to find and post some.

Off-register colour is a technique I remember fondly since I was a kid (early 1970's), synonymous with cartoons at the drive-in, the Flintstones and Pink Panther, stylised title and credit sequences, all accompanied by grroovy music.
Aah, the drive-in.

Herb Alpert Album Cover Art 1963

Esther at Stax o Wax and I disagree about the merits of this 1963 album cover art - graphic, 2D and striking while surprisingly whimsical with its procession of little figures, I love it.

Japanese License Plates

Curious to know the era of these license plates, I'd love to hear if you have a clue. Each plate is 15cm long (about 6 inches). They'd look right at home in anything by Studio Ghibli.