Beth Mathews Design
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My Personal Vault of Design Inspiration

I got a daybed for my office that has…looks around…10 pillows on it. No one needs 10 pillows, but my coziness level went from about a 6 to a 10 in a mere week, and I’m ecstatic about it. It’s even next to a window where I can feel a breeze, and I have two (slightly sad-looking, end-of-summer) lemon trees outside my window, but they’re lemon trees, and I can’t believe my luck. I’m convinced that a slight breeze through a window gives me a high like no other. I was traipsing through the kitchen this morning, stopped dead in my tracks, and said, “Do you feel that breeze coming through the kitchen window?!” Then I just stood there. Soaking it in. Heaven!

Besides being jazzed about the above, I can feel myself slipping into a design slump. I had some free time on my hands this afternoon, which normally would have been time to explore a hobby or design something for fun, and I couldn’t think of a darn thing to do except head to my personal vault of saved “design bookmarks” and start rummaging through them for any sort of inspiration spark. So today, I shall share some of these things with you, and perhaps they’ll collectively inspire us all to keep making things as we make our way towards the end of this calendar year, perhaps a little tired from 10 whole months of creating. But how lucky are we to be able to do so? Truly.

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Fortepan

A Substack friendship taught me about Fortepan, a free-to-use Hungarian community archive where you’re welcome to use over 200,000 images for free. I recently got lost looking at this collection: 400 years of the Hungarian Postal Service. I honestly feel ill at how great these photos are.

Bank Note World

Curious about what every single piece of money looks like in the world? Head on over to Bank Note World. Insane inspiration.

World of Playing Cards

The World of Playing Cards has over 5,000 articles documenting playing cards throughout the ages. I do believe the set of cards below may be the most perfect color palette of all time?

Japanese Matchbox Labels

These matchbox labels by Japanese artists between 1920 and 1940 are so stunning and interesting I could cry.

Blueprints for the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty

You can buy Gustave’s blueprints for the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty for a simple $1.5 million. Or, you can browse them here on raremaps.com. Looking through the maps on this site makes me think that human intelligence may never reach this high level again. So much brilliance!

Title Card Designs for Encyclopedia Britannica Films

Encyclopedia Britannica Films distributed 16mm educational films to schools from 1943 to 1995, and the typesetting on these films’ title cards is incredible. You can view a collection of them here on the Internet Archive.

Just look at the size of the “C” in Chemical. And the different typeface for “AND.” So good and interesting.

Person Living in a 120 sq/ft Apartment

Ok, this person living in a cute 120 sq/ft apartment in the Philippines has inspired me to be more intentional with every single thing in my home. I find her videos mesmerizing and relaxing!

Salesman Samples

The site Collectors Weekly compiles a bunch of eBay listings into categories like “train tickets”, “Coffee Tins”, etc. But one category I find really interesting is the Salesman Samples. For example, here’s a miniature 7” tall tweed jacket that a salesman would parade around as they marched from door to door.

Oh my, look what else I just found on eBay because of that link. A 1950s Samsonite Streamlite Salesman Sample Demonstrator Case. Look at the strips of finishes!

Honorable Mention Sales Kits

Folk Photography Collection

I once had a job interview where they asked me what my favorite type of art was, and I replied, “folk art.” This Flickr collection is exactly what I mean!

That’s all for now! I’m still sitting on that daybed that I found from a nice gal on the app OfferUp as I end this post. I’ll be talking about this bed and this breezy window for at least the next 6 months if anyone asks what I’ve been up to.

Have a great weekend. I’ll see you in November!

Beth Mathews Design is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

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