Remember the time when money really could wear a hole in your pocket? The original 50p piece (above), weighed in at the best part of 14 grams and was bigger than the UK’s current two pound coin. In comparison, today’s 50p coins – at a mere 8 grams – feel decidedly flimsy.

One thing they do have over their predecessor, however, is their function as a design canvas. Over the last 15 years, the Royal Mint has been using the back of the 50p as the site for a surprising variety of commemorative illustrations, all of which are gathered together here…

Still from The Lotus Eaters, 2001-07, all images courtesy Timothy Taylor Gallery; © Marcel Dzama

Marcel Dzama has gained deserved fame for his imaginative drawings and watercolours which have been exhibited internationally and entered the mainstream consciousness with their appearance on the cover of Beck’s 2005 album Guero. Yet an exhibition of new works at the Timothy Taylor Gallery in London shows that his talents also stretch into other areas, including filmmaking.

Most computer magazines look like this.
Thanks to the good people at SpiekermannPartners, PC Professionell now looks like this:

Laser-etched skateboard by Alife

Traditionally, skateboard graphics are either screenprinted or applied using a dye-sublimination process. However, Sydney-based Refill magazine has commissioned a host of designers and illustrators (including Delta, Ben Drury, Genevieve Gauckler, Jim Phillips, Maharishi, Marc Atlan, Marok, Parra, Michael C Place, Mr Jago, Nick Night…) to create designs to be laser-etched onto skateboard decks: each design is created by cutting away the top layer of wood with a laser.

Detail of Alife’s deck

click READ MORE to see / find out more…

A C. Pegge and an L. Beltis clearly had intentions of leaving their mark on a winding staircase
within St Paul’s cathedral in late eighteenth century

St Paul’s Cathedral, London: built by court architect Sir Christopher Wren between 1675 and 1710 after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. Hardly what you’d imagine to be a graffiti mecca. But, if you’re brave enough to climb the 500 or so steps to the Golden Gallery (the highest viewing point at the top of the dome) then a wealth of subversive scrawls and monogrammed tagging awaits you. And the best ones – by a country mile – are over 200 years old.

We’ve had the designer T-shirt and the designer vinyl toy. Now, get ready for the Designer Candle…