click cover for larger view

French button cards from the Art Deco era are reproduced on these charming notecards.

For a brief period at the turn of the twentieth century, mass-produced buttons were simple, plain, and subdued, waiting timidly off stage while their newly invented rival, the zipper, shone in the fashion spotlight. By the thirties, however, Bakelite (“the material of a thousand uses”) and newly invented plastics revitalized the industry. Buttons could now be molded and carved into au courant shapes and produced in an endless variety of stylish colors. In stores, they were displayed on cards that were as chic as the buttons themselves and that mimicked the fashion elements of the garments they would ultimately adorn. Graphic designers used as a background the Art Deco prints and subdued color palette of the era’s fabrics, added angular and sophisticated typefaces as ornamentation, and often finished with geometric borders much as a couturier would add trim.

20 notecards and envelopes, 4 each of 5 images, in a keepsake box

ISBN 13: 9781932411072

Notecards 4” x 5.25”
Retail price: $16.95
Price: $13.56 (20% off)

                                                                   
Louise Fili is an internationally known graphic designer, a member of the Art Directors Hall of Fame, and the co-author of more than a dozen books. She has received awards from every major design competition, including the Society of Illustrators and the New York Art Directors Club.