A Typographic Lyricist...

Last, but by know means least this week, comes the work of graphic design graduate Kayleigh Hadley. We absolutely loved her hand-made type pieces on display at the recent D&AD New Blood exhibition. Especially in a world completely awash with digital representations, Kayleigh's passion for keeping it real is evident in every stroke of her fine-liner. They are rebellious & cheeky & we love it...!

New Retro...

Manchester School of Art graduate Callum Wheeler's work really caught our eye at our recent visit to New Designers. We may well have mentioned our love for simple & well executed ideas before, but Callum really sums this up for us.

We love the combination of timber & powder-coated steel which creates an effortless collaboration of materials in a modern, & slightly retro manner. Adding a dash of colour adds to the personality, without taking away the fact these are grown-up, contemporary pieces of furniture...

A State of Mind...

We are delving into the world of fine art for the first time, & we're very excited about showcasing work by Emily Cooper, a graduate from Bath School of Art & Design.

Her work was on show as part of the Free Range exhibition a few weeks ago, & we were really in awe of the sheer scale of these almost photographic representations. She describes her work as 'placing painting at the summit of experience...with its validation of strong emotion as an aesthetic source...'
We agree & for us, Emily has managed to capture a moody, forlorn landscape in a completely mesmeric way...

A Bird's Eye View...

We start the week with a quick mention of one of our previous postings, Emma Walker. We showcased her beautiful work back in April in the post A Natural Photographer & she was kind enough to invite us to her degree show 'Paradalia' for Arts University College at Bournemouth, at Free Range last week.

It was lovely to see her work up close, & have chosen one of her other projects to showcase today, called Ave, along with the work of fellow graduate Sophie Mullins.

Sophie's unusual collection depicts a collage of found pieces taking inspiration from memory, fragmentation, absence & loss. We like the fact from a distance this pieces appear quite abstract, & then up close have a soft, patchwork effect, like looking over fields from the air, delicate & impactful...

A New Term...

If you think just because the shows are drawing to a close, that's it, think again...this is just the beginning for us, & we will continue to support & showcase work by graduates we feel have incredible talent in their individual fields...over the next couple of months we will be contacting everyone who we have featured to see if they are interested in selling their work though our on-line shop as an initial platform to help kick-start their careers in the creative industry, & in the meantime, we have another week of outstanding work from photographers, illustrators & fine artists to look forward to...Look, Like & Love it...

Simple Sustainability...

Furniture design graduate Michael Carroll made our shortlist with his work called 'Peggy'. The bench is constructed without the use of glue or traditional fixings, & he has managed to eliminate the need for any unnecessary materials, in a, 'what you see is what you get' perspective on sustainability.

His hand-crafted approach using honest, natural materials really worked for us, & had sensitivity & an industrial edge, which wouldn't look out of place in any domestic or commercial setting...

Paper, Scissors, Stone...

Natasha Stoddard, a graduate designer from Loughborough University caught our eye with her beautifully simple, yet striking ceramic pieces on display... 

We were lucky enough to have a chat with Natasha, & she spoke about starting her design process using pieces of paper to explore the shapes before slip casting. This fragility were certainly evident, which really added to the strength of the overall collection, & her use of tonal colour ticked all the boxes for us...

Fun & Functional...

Our next pick is from Furniture Designer Amy Wallace, a graduate from Bucks New University. Her ethos is all to do with evoking positive emotions from the work she creates, & research into humour & wit led to her final collection...

The craftsmanship & quality in her work has certainly not been compromised, with the construction methods & finishing second to none. They might be bright and breezy in their inception, but the usability and functionality of her work cannot be disputed & we left her stand smiling...

A Lightbulb Moment...

Now, from 2D to 3D with our round-up of our best bits from New Designers Part Two, & a week of furniture & product design...

First up from a very talented bunch is Product Designer & Ceramicist, Charlotte Beer.  Her experimentations with ceramic & resin together have created an unexpected, but happy pairing, to create these modern & bright pieces, & with everyone hand-made, each becomes a one-off, unique creation in its own right...

More than Skin Deep...

University of Bedfordshire graduate Liva Cabule had a great collection of pieces that caught our eye on display at D&AD New Blood, unfortunately we didn't get to me Liva, but having picked up her card, & delving through her website, we had to share some of her lovely fashion illustration with you...

We love the fluidity & softness to the illustrations, but there also feels like a harder edge & darker undertone at work with them too, which makes them much more intriguing...

I'm sweet enough...

We had a lovely chat with graduate Olivia Askaroff, and we had to show the real diversity she displays in her work. 

On show at D&AD New Blood was a small book she had created filled with obscure words, each page pain-stakingly made by hand to include a pull out for each letter of the alphabet...we also loved her 'Counterbet' poster on display, which looked at the negative space created when the letters are removed...and last, but by no means least, was a piece found on her website. A lovely book called 'Sweet Tooth'. Olivia has a food intolerance, which means she can't have anything with sugar in it. She decided to immortalise all the sweet treats she loves, but can't eat, creating this book of gold screenprinted illustrations...they are every-day beautiful...

The Sweetest Thing...

Kirsty Wilkinson also makes our best bits this week, a graduate from Blackpool & Fylde College, her hand-drawn typography mixed with her favourite sweet treats, shows that working with the things you love the most really does pay off...

A Good Egg...

We're so excited this week with our finds from D&AD New Blood, we can't wait to share them with you...so second up in our newly titled 'Illustrator Week' is Glasgow School of Art graduate Oona Brown.

Her piece called 'Bad Eggs' was accompanied with an illustrated book. It really reminded us of illustrated story books from when we were children with a slightly quirky, stylised approach. Oona's sense of humour really comes across, & these characters certainly have a real twinkle in their eye...we want to frame every single page!

From present, to past...

We've had a great morning sifting through some of our favourite bits & bobs from D&AD New Blood last week, which was showcasing work from graduates all across the country, & on a second look at everything we had picked up, this was a veritable hot-bed of some serious, serious talent...

First up, we are most excited about the work by Nottingham Trent graduate Lucinda Ireland. A graphic designer, she works under the title of 'Girls Like Type Too', and the range of work she has put together, we are loving...we've decided to showcase one of her typographic/photography projects, 'From the Ground Up' which for us, celebrates the historical nature of type & how it was used to beautiful effect in years gone by...