Cake Design News: Art In The Everyday: Royal Typewriters

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As the world hurtles faster and faster toward an all-digital age — of non-printed books, non-stamped mail and film-free cameras — we begin to look fondly upon objects that have outlived their intended use. The Brownie Hawkeye camera with its now quaint knobs and lenses, the vinyl record with its oversized cover art and plainly visible grooves — objects such as these have become charming mementos of days not-so-far gone. Although the obsolete design object has always held currency for the collector, few have become as symbolic or as cherished among as the typewriter.

A word processor without all the nasty distractions that come along with a WiFi connection, the typewriter is comfortingly simple and bare bones. With satisfying tap-tap-taps, exciting dings! and sometimes a gentle hum, typewriters conjure a collective romantic vision of days past. John Steinbeck didn't write East of Eden sitting in Starbucks on his MacBook Pro with his pumpkin spice latté in hand. Indeed, no vision of our most iconic writers would be complete without the trusty typewriter. Whatever one's reason to love it, the typewriter has emerged as an object of desire to many a design enthusiast.

Janine Vangool, editor of Uppercase Magazine, is no stranger to typewriter love. The author of the forthcoming tome, The Typewriter: A Graphic History of The Beloved Machine, Vangool has amassed quite the collection — not only of typewriters but of all sorts of typewriter-related ephemera. Although she seems to have an eye for any well-designed token of the typewriter age, Janine does confess to having a favorite. "Royals are my particular favorite," she says, referring to the Royal brand of typewriters produced from 1906 through the 1970s. "I have the Quiet Deluxe in turquoise, pink, red, grey, and teal." Throughout its long history, the Royal typewriter company not only pioneered several important technologies for typewriting, but also produced a wide range of stunning, multi-colored products and promotional material — pure eye candy for any typewriter fan. For more images and history about this fabulous brand, continue after the jump! — Max

Images and captions courtesy of Janine Vangool and Uppercase's Typewriter project.