Flea Market Inspiration

I was recently showing an out-of-town guest around our city’s best-loved attractions and found myself at a flea market, standing in front of a huge table, piled three inches deep with authentic soviet-era lapel pins. Amazing. The friendly woman selling them explained that her father used to bring them home for her by the handful after traveling to Russia on business in the 70s and 80s. When viewing the whole mass of them, they aren’t particularly interesting. But upon closer inspection, there are some real gems in the mix. A lot of them. I can see the artistry and imagine the work and dedication that went into each one.

I love finding design inspiration in sources that are far removed from my current clientele’s industry (or decade), but still contain well-executed graphic elements that could potentially find a home in today’s designs.

There must have been six thousand pins on that table. Sadly I wasn’t able to scrape them all into a wheelbarrow on the spot. I’d love to photograph them all and make a book, but I think it would be cost prohibitive. I hate seeing collections that took years to assemble being dismantled like this. But I’m glad to have found a few for myself and to be able to share this small slice of inspiration with you.