Inherent in the planning and execution of any wedding are various design elements – from the look of the invitations to the plan for the seating arrangement, from the flowers to, perhaps most importantly, the bride’s dress.
But when you’re dealing with nuptials of a royal nature, another important design consideration is the line of souvenirs.
The items endorsed to commemorate Prince William and Kate Middleton’s big day on April 29th include the staid, traditional offerings – plate, tankard, pillbox, tea towel, heart-shaped decoration – at the Royal Collection shop, and the, frankly, misshapen depiction of the couple on the Royal Mint’s coins (particularly the ‘engagement’ edition – who are those people?). 
And while we’re forever hearing that royal occasions such as this ‘capture the imagination’ of the nation, the over-abundance of coverage of the event inevitably also sparks the imagination of pop-culture designers and inspires them to come up with their own, alternative, memorabilia.
We give a special commendation to Alice Pallutto’s screen print, to be honest, it’s the satirical side of things that are really piquing our interest.
London’s KK Outlet have taken a swipe at the traditional commemorative plate, and come up with their own contemporary versions – referencing cultural touchstones including Facebook, celebrity crushes, youth slang/graffiti terms, and the country’s love of a day off work – for their collection of five designs.
English visual artist Lydia Leith has taken things a step further, capturing the spirit of the portion of the nation nauseous with wedding fever, creating screen-printed “Throne Up” sick bags for royal-haters to keep handy on the big day.
But our favourite take on the alternative royal wedding thing has been chosen because – in our opinion – it ticks so many of the right kind of boxes:
• It is a limited-edition (hey, it might be worth some money one day)
• 10” vinyl record (vinyl is the most aesthetically pleasing way to buy physical music these days, even if you don’t have a record player)
• To be released in aid of Record Store Day (that’s the April 16th world-wide celebration of all things independent and record store-like; support it)
• With a royal-themed cover design (that’s what we’re talking about here)
• That references Kiss-style make up (how ironic)
• Occult symbols (take that royal religious beliefs)
• And the Church of England bishop who predicted the marriage “won’t last seven years” (take that royal fairytale myths)
And the music from the four bands featured on the split release – Dolphins, Blacklisters, Castrovalva, and Hawk Eyes – isn’t too shabby either.
Have a listen to the Blacklisters track ‘Clubfoot By Kasabian’ here:
We don’t really care about the royal wedding, but we do like a nice bit of design. And within minutes of seeing the image on this EP cover, we had pre-ordered the record and banged out this little piece about it all – so, hooray for inspiration.
PS: You can order the 10″ via Brew Records or Dance To The Radio.
hehehe – just bought this too!
http://www.guandongenterprisesltd.com/