My Heart Pants 4 U

Vintage Enid Collins box bag, 1962.

A is 4 Apple

Vintage Enid Collins box bag, casket style.

(Mind Your) P's and Q's

Vintage Enid Collins box bag.

All in One (basket)!

Vintage Enid Collins box bag from black and white series, 1970.

Bird in (Hand)

Vintage Enid Collins box purse.

1 4 the (Money)

Vintage Enid Collins box purse with faux funny money, 1968.

A is 4 (Apple) of My I

Vintage Enid Collins box bag, 1965.

U R the (Apple) of My I

Vintage Enid Collins box purse, 1967.

(Apple) Polisher

Vintage Enid Collins box bag, 1963.

Exhibit: Wordplay

Enid Collins is renowned for her stylized, whimsical, nature-based designs (and bling-happy jewels!). But she's equally beloved for the sly comic wit conveyed through her imagery and design titles--especially when she's playing with idioms and puns.

In some designs, Enid takes her wordplay to another dimension by mingling text and graphics in ways that invite us to consider the design as a we might a game of Anagrams or some other word puzzle. Translating verbal language as image puns, she transforms threadbare cliches into engaging visual texts, delightfully surprising.