SIGN OF THE TIMES: abcs

Isak\'s abc workboardTHERE’S A PLETHORA of stylish, graphic ABC posters and prints this season - all of which are spare and beautiful enough for anywhere in the house and not just the baby’s room.

And in fact, thinks KinderGallery’s Fiona Lang, the impetus behind the likes of alphabet-inspired work from Gregoire Ganter, Charley Harper et al (what Lang calls our current “design fetish for showing off different typographies”), is as much adult-informed as it is for the kids. Many of us have fallen back in love with the retro typography of our childhoods and the last century: “as a great contrast to the internet/computer age - or perhaps as an extension of it.”

“These are design works appealing to modern parents who travel to New York or Berlin, and have a bit of ‘urban cool’ about them,” she adds. “Perhaps it’s that nostalgia that makes me buy “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and Dr Seuss books for my 2-year-old when it’s really me that loves the typography, illustrations and stories. I justify the purchases as worthwhile because ‘it’s good for kids to read.’”

Having said this, ABCs are still functional pieces of artwork. A friend who is currently fulfilling her three-year-old son’s desire to be able to read his favourite book titles, and so is tackling the alphabet for the first time, relishes every opportunity to talk letters - and the more visual, creative or super-cute the raw material, “the more enthusiastic my son is about learning and reading.”

Our current favourite educational artworks include Isak’s lower case ‘abc workboard’ pictured above, which comes with its own teak shelf, £40, www.isak.co.uk; Mrs Booth’s eco-friendly alphabet poster, (see below in our gallery), £20, www.mrsbooth.com; In the Forest and Technicolour Alphabet, both by Imeus Design at L’Affiche Moderne, www.laffichemoderne.com from €29; Lorena Siminovich’s animal alphabet poster (pictured below in our gallery in pink - click to enlarge the image) from www.kindergallery.com; Gwenola Carrere’s ABCD Metiers (ABC of Jobs) also at L’Affiche Moderne, from €29; Famille Summerbelle’s blue illustrated alphabet, £20, from www.famillesummerbelle.co.uk; Green Chair Press’s hand letterpressed alphabet print in green, $18,from greenchairpress.etsy.com; and Blue Bicicletta’s swirling black and white Alphabet soup, $60, www.bluebicicletta.etsy.com. Click on each of the gallery images to see the full-size pic.