Everything old is new again! Retro is back in a big way. In the scrapbooking world it is manifesting itself particularly in color palettes, fonts, and the patterns of our paper.
More of us than would like to admit are old enough to remember when these things were fashionable the last time in the 70′s and 80′s. But memories fade over time or get replaced by the cartoonish versions we see Hollywood produce in “historic” pieces about those periods. So what do you do if you are a designer who wants to produce truly retro-inspired designs? Use the internet, and watch some tv!
Where can you find all of this retro tv? Hulu is a video service on the internet that shows tv episodes for free (yes, I said FREE) with a few brief commercials inserted. It offers a lot of classic TV content, including Barney Miller, Love Boat, Bob Newhart, Mary Tyler Moore, Archie Bunker’s Place, WKRP in Cincinnatti, Hart to Hart, Kojak, Miami Vice, and Adam-12.
I’ll admit I’ve just about worked my way through the entire online library of old Love Boat episodes in the past couple weeks. And aside from the guilty pleasure of the completely lightweight, always-had-a-happy-ending plots, the episodes have been an education in retro design by immersion. I’ve seen how the colors and the patterns actually worked together in decor and fashion, in particular, in the time before they were “retro”.
What better way to get a real feel for retro design than to watch it in action, in its native time and setting? Oh yeah, and you can have some fun while you learn, too…
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