I am beguiled by this photograph, which is entitled Pierre’s Breakfast and was taken by Willie Christie at David Hockney’s house in Notting Hill on May 18, 1974.

The identities of the two individuals on the left are a mystery*; with Clark (in the white jumpsuit) are make-up artist Pierre Laroche, Marianne Faithfull and Michael Roberts (then writer/photographer at The Sunday Times, now Vanity Fair’s fashion/style director). Behind the group are a selection of artist Mo McDermott’s signature painted wooden tree sculptures.

Laroche, who had worked at Elizabeth Arden for five years before taking up with rock & roll when he was recruited by Brian Duffy for the cover of David Bowie’s 1973 album Aladdin Sane, engaged Willie Christie for the May 74 session for a potential magazine feature.

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Tags: Aids, Aladdin Sane, Alkasura, Any Day Now, Brian Duffy, Charlton FC, Chelita Secunda, David Bowie, Elizabeth Arden, Henrietta Rous, Humble Pie, John Lloyd, Kevin Cann, Marianne Faithfull, Michael Roberts, Mick Jagger, Mo McDermott, Ossie Clark, Pierre Laroche, Rod Stewart, Roxy Music, Suzy Menkes, The Rocky Horror Show, The Who Lou Reed, Willie Christie

British Design From 1948: Innovation In The Modern Age – the new book accompanying the forthcoming show at the V+A – is a bumper edition: 400 pages weighing in at 5lbs.

It’s cheering to see Barney Bubbles’ design Ian Dury With Love granted upfront prominence; the poster is in select company given special treatment by the book’s designer, Barnbrook’s Daniel Streat. The others are: Cecil Beaton’s 1953 coronation portrait of The Queen, a shot of Damien Hirst’s Notting Hill restaurant Pharmacy and Brian Duffy’s Aladdin Sane portrait of David Bowie.

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Tags: Brian Duffy, Cecil Beaton, Christopher Breward, David Bowie, Ettorre Sotsass Jr, Ghislaine Wood, John hegarty, Michael Bracewell, Paul Smith, Pharmacy, Terence Conran, The Queen, Vivienne Westwood, Zaha Hadid

If you’re in Austin TX – and there’s a chance you might be since hundreds of thousands of people have descended on the city for the annual SXSW film/music/interactive conflab taking place there this week – try and nip along to the Ray Ban Legendary Visions house at 78 Rainey Street on the eastside for a gander at the room collages/installations I have engineered to reflect my take on the look of music.

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Tags: Austin TX, Boy George, Glastonbury Festival, Henry Diltz, Hipgnosis, Jeff Dexter, Judy Nylon, Kate Moross, Mark Powell, NCompass, Nick Ebeling, Nick Lowe, Ray Ban, Sheri Timmons, Steve Pross, Stiff Records, SXSW

Ian Dury With Love, 60in x 40in poster, 1977.

I sourced this incredible large-scale Barney Bubbles-designed poster from a private collection for the V&A’s forthcoming exhibition British Design: 1948-2012.

Chris Breward, co-curator with Ghislaine Wood, credits my 2010 exhibition Process (which focused on Bubbles’ working practices) for having persuaded the V&A to foreground the work of the late graphic designer in the new show.

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Tags: British Design: 1948-2012, Chris Breward, Ghislaine Wood, Ian Dury, Process: The Working Practices Of Barney Bubbles, V&A

Last week I gave a talk about the work of Barney Bubbles at Bold Italic, the annual graphics conference organised by Michaël Bussaer of Ghent’s St-Lucas Institute for Higher Education in the Arts.

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Tags: Alexander Negrelli, Bold Italic, Ghent, Jake Riviera, Kommando Otl Aicher, Michaël Bussaer, Munich Olympics 1972