On the Up...

 

We're excited to bring you an interview with talented designer and up-cycler Yinka Ilori, a recent graduate from London Metropolitan University who caught our eye a few months ago, and have been keeping an eye on ever since.

We were interested in his aesthetic approach to design, and how he has pretty much turned the idea of up-cycling on its head to create these rich, but simply crafted creations.

In the lead up to the African and African-Caribbean Design Diaspora in London, we managed to catch-up with Yinka to find out a bit more about him and his work...

Did you always know you would do something creative? 

Yes, I always knew that I would do something creative because when I was at secondary I was always good at drawing and really enjoyed Art GCSE and Design & Technology GCSE. I remember my teachers always telling me my work was good and always using my work, and homework book as an example to show the other pupils what their work should look like which was flattering, but at the sometimes embarrassing!

Did you have any early inspirations/ inspirational characters that informed your creative path? 

Yes, I remembered studying BTEC in Art and design studies at London Metropolitan University and we had an end of year exhibition. I had been setting up all day and had to go home and change my clothes. When I had arrived back I had noticed that I had been nominated for a Sir John Cass Art & Design Award, although I didn't win, for me, knowing that I had been nominated inspired and made me believe that I am doing something right.

What inspires you/ any particular places you draw inspiration from? 

What inspires me is everyday things in life, that have a story to tell and I try to incorporate that into my up-cycled furniture, because my ethos for up-cycling furniture is all about re-loving and telling the story of how the furniture was re-loved:) 

I am also really inspired by the African culture, as you may have noticed African prints from Ankara to Aso-oke are mainly used in most of my furniture. I also love old vintage Scandinavian furniture I think they are beautiful, and sometimes draw inspirations from there too. 

Currently, I am really inspired by MBE artist Yinka Shonibare, I think he is an amazing artist who curates moving, yet at the same time interesting installations. His installations are very powerful, with a strong meanings behind it, hence why he has inspired me to do an installation at this year's AACDD (The African and African-Caribbean Design Diaspora) Festival at the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1

19 – 30 September 2012 my installation is titled 'Head of the House'. Hope to see some of you there:)

What first led you to working with old furniture as opposed to creating pieces from scratch? 

When I did a project at university called 'our chair' where we had to do a partnered project, and find two old chairs making it into one chair, using all the pieces from both chairs!

I absolutely loved that project, and it was from then onwards I knew that I wanted to make up-cycling my career because I loved the way each piece of furniture tells its own story, for me furniture with a story is beautiful.

What's been your biggest achievement to date?

Wow my biggest achievement to date would be exhibiting in New York in May 2012 at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, and also selling one of my pieces of furniture to a High-end contract furniture company called 'D'Apostrophe'. 

It still feels nice to know that my piece of furniture is now somewhere in New York and will now become a story for someone else, now to tell! So yes, selling a piece of my furniture in New York has been my biggest achievement to date:)

What are your plans/ goals over the next 12 months? 

My plans and goals in the next few months would be hopefully to have a pop-up shop dedicated to my brand, not sure on location but that's something I would like to do over the next 12 months, who knows it may even be longer than 12 months.

What advise would you give to any new designer starting out on their own, or someone considering studying (furniture) design?

What I would advise any designer starting out on their own is to keep pushing because no one said that it's going to be easy, but the main thing is that if you enjoy what you do and your truly passionate about it, never keep up, because it's really important to do something that truly makes you happy, that's what got me here today:)

What's the ultimate dream?

My ultimate dream would be to have my own shop, with all my furniture inside it, and a few other designers works that I also like as well...

You can see Yinka's work at The African and African-Caribbean Design Diaspora Festival at the Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, London SE1 from 19 – 30 September 2012

Paper Cuts...

A new designer-maker to welcome to the fold is Polly Tucknott, a London-based teacher who has always been creative, with a particular interest in fairy-tales and far-away lands.

Experimenting whilst drawing, led her to cut her designs out of paper, and naturally her interest took a lean towards screen-printing.

As an introduction to Polly's work featuring in our shop, we have a step-by-step series of photos showing the process she uses to create her delicate designs...

Quick sketches

Checking scale and proportion

Adding detail

The completed design

The cutting process

Exposed onto silk screen

Transfered onto material

Finishing touches

Ta-da!

Polly's whimsical work has been translated onto a series of silk and vintage lace cushions, which will be available to buy from the shop very soon... 

Found Furniture...

In the last round of our graduate fave finds, we focus on furniture, and a few pieces in particular from New Designer Part 2. Universities from across the U.K pulled out all the stops to impress this year with large scale stands which transformed the white boxes into mini design showrooms...

One stand that stood out was from Northumbria University, showcasing a combination of small-scale products to impressive polished furniture offerings. You can often tell from a curated collection on display the passion that exists, not only of the individual designers, but that the course leaders and tutors give the well-needed support and key nurturing needed to succeed.

How can we gauge that from one stand you may ask, but trust us, when every designer is jostling for position, stepping your game up on all levels is so important, because after all it's not just an advert and opportunity for the designers, it's an advertising platform for the Universities too.

So starting with Northumbria, one of our top finds was by Chris Corkery and his perfectly balanced book storage unit. It's mini proportions and simple aesthetic teamed with the honesty of the material and detailing would look great in a student room or a city pad. 

Also from Northumbria is Natalie Hough, and in much the same way as Chris, her use of simple materials caught our eye. There were many stools on show in various guises, but what we loved about Natalie's was the subtle details, the finishing of the legs coming through the seat, and the mini softly formed shelf beneath added a homely quality. (Image from Claire Potter)

Last but definitely not least is Jade Moyse from Bucks New University. The stand was fun and bright, and with support from not only SCP but mid-century modern furniture company Ercol, the standard was high across the board.

Experimentation with timber as well as steel caught our initial attention, and Jade was on-hand to explain her pieces, and her drive and entrepreneurial spirit was evident from the start. She talked about researching manufacturers and finding the right market and price-points. We certainly don't expect her feet to touch the ground any time soon!

Some real gems...

As this year's degree shows come to an end, once again we have been bowled over by the variety of creative work and diverse and interesting collections that have caught our eye. We found some great talent, so here are a few of our show highlights from the class of 2012...

First up is a selection of stand-out sparkly bits from New Designer's Part One...

Natasha Thorogood has just graduated from Nottingham Trent University specialising in Decorative Arts. Her collection of organic rings drew us over to her stand like a couple of magpies! They have a painterly quality, almost Monet-esque, and the combination of aquamarine and ochre mixed with metallic accents of copper, silver and gold were perfection...

Beth Jones, a contemporary applied artist based in North Wales showed that jewellery can come from the simplest of forms. Under the name Mine is Thine, her combination of sculptural and wearable pieces explores domestic references, and experimenting with techniques like enamelling, maintains a minimal aesthetic...

Victoria Thay ticks all the boxes for our love of pretty much anything geometric and structured. Throw in a touch of gold and silver and quite frankly we'll want to buy it all! A graduate from Central St.Martins, her surroundings in the capital become the inspirational backdrop, but rather than take literal references, she has explored the architectural landscape and the skewed perspective of buildings you often see when moving around the city...

Amy Logan formed part of the showcase of designers in the 'One Year On' space and in complete contrast to the work by Victoria above, her current collection takes inspiration from the drawn line. The translation from paper and pen to crafted metalwork makes each piece unique with its hand-drawn to hand-made quality...

Nicola Crawford was also showcasing her latest collection as part of 'One Year On' which took inspiration from the nostalgic routes of letter-writing. She came across a letter in an antique shop penned during World War Two, and used this as her basis for her 'Lost Words' collection...

And finally, Mairi Burrow of Mustard & Peaches, produced a stand-out collection as part of the consistent high-quality that comes out of Duncan of Jordanstone at Dundee University. We were already familiar with Mustard & Peaches through our link with Vanilla Ink, and we were excited to not only see Mairi's collection, but to meet the lovely lady herself. Her thoughtful and considered approach to her work was stunning, and tapping into a subject matter such as Alzheimer's was inspiring and heart-felt...

Look out for our round-up of our top finds in textiles, print and ceramics in the next few days...

Transferrable Skills...

Zoe Alexandria Richardson, a London-based jewellery designer approached us as she embarks on her new venture under the name Dual Nation Jewellery.

Having already completed a degree in fashion design and marketing, she needed another creative outlet, and enrolled in a diploma course for creative jewellery making at the London Jewellery School.

When she approached us with her collection, it was something we hadn't really seen before, and were intrigued to find out more, so we set up a meeting last month to meet her, and see her pieces first-hand.

Zoe uses a material called poly-clay, a plastic-based substance to form the decorative parts of her jewellery, and applies transfers she finds interesting to finish the look. Using a simple colour palette of gold, silver and bronze, she creates an interesting mix of uniquely shaped statement pieces with a vintage postcard quality, as well as drawing inspiration from her British and Australian heritage.

With her perfect mix of fashion, design and marketing skills, we see big things for Zoe as she has also talked about extending her ranges with her own illustrations, as well as looking to collaborate with other illustrators too.

We have a small selection of her work available through the Look Like Love store, so head over to take a closer look...

All things bright and beautiful...

Jessie G has been on board with us for the last couple of months, but we thought we would do a bit of an official introduction...

Jess works as an interior designer in London, but ever since being given her first silk screen as a child, she has been addicted to the process and the wide-range of results that can be achieved.

She takes inspiration from her travels around the capital, and her trips a bit further afield too. Her bright, and bold graphic approach tunes into a style akin to mid-century modern, and her pieces whether a print or cushion wouldn't look out of place on a G-Plan sideboard or Ercol daybed!

Most weekends you will find her brightening up a Designer-Maker Market in London with a kaleidoscope of colourful wares from greetings cards to poppy prints, she brightens our day and will brighten a room in any home too...

Find some of her beautiful prints at our shop...here...

Jewel-like qualities...

We were always a touch sceptical about social media and especially Twitter, a few tentative tweets to begin with and then you gain followers, and the confidence to build a business network.

One of our most recent connections was with Nicky Hadjithoma, the founder of new jewellery emporium Neony. Having a common interest in supporting and promoting up-and-coming jewellery designers, Twitter bashed our business heads together, and she kindly invited us to her new store launch in London last week.

Set a jewel-encrusted stones throw away from Tottenham Court Road, the store was already buzzing with people and flash-bulbs as we approached. It was cosy to say the least, but we were still able to enjoy the stunning mix of perfectly curated collections Nicky had put together.

We managed to catch Nicky in the midst of her mingling, a little overwhelmed by the turn-out and realisation that all her hard work had paid off. She was cautious to use the phrase that she had 'something for everyone' but from the queue forming at the back of the store to pay, we'd say there was definitely more than a few happy customers!

With collections on show from Ruby Feathers, Francesca Villa, Daphne Dasque and Origami Jewellery to name but a few, the wall-mounted gilt frames showcased the work perfectly, with the store itself having an Alice Through the Looking Glass quality...

Of course, we couldn't go away empty handed ourselves, with both of us walking away with our very own pieces of Origami Jewellery, and can't wait to go back to get lost in Wonderland...

There's no place like home...

We're excited to share the news that one of our designers Jo Ash, founder of Rubyshoes Rocks has now set-up her own on-line shop!

We have had a few pieces from her incredibly popular bunting collections at Look Like Love for a few months now, and with the hopefully imminent arrival of Summer, barbecues in the garden, and festival season on the horizon, Jo has timed it just right to launch her own on-line shop.

All made by hand, and with a unique twist to each design, there is no room here for twee that's for sure, as Jo is single-handedly on a mission to change the perception of bunting for the better. Long gone are the traditional triangular varieties, and with frills banned, Rubyshoes Rocks!

Check out her new 2012 collection on-line now, with a patriotic edge for all your Jubilee and Olympic celebrations, you'll be all set...

More Tea Vicar...

We mentioned a couple of weeks ago a few new additions to our shop were on the way, and our first new arrival is from graduate jewellery designer Roisin Connolly.

We are really excited to be working with Roisin and representing her work, as we've been fans since we posted about her work back in August in, A Personal Journey, where Roisin's technique of acid-etching gold and silver with photographic images, really caught our eye.

We have a couple of her acid-etched creations, as well as her adorable tea-inspired silver earrings. What's more comforting than a good cuppa and a slice of cake, that combination never fails...

...Click on SHOP to see Roisin's pieces, as well as all our other graduate work available to buy...

Knit one, stitch one...

This weekend it was all about being by the sea in Brighton for the Made'11 show, next weekend, we're moving up north to The Knitting & Stitching Show taking place in Harrogate from the 24-27 November.

Our very own Sandy Powell will be there as part of the graduate showcase, selling her home and fashion accessories, which we featured two weeks ago as our product of the week.

For your chance to see her work up-close, then Harrogate International Centre is the place to go, with Knit & Stitch being considered the best textile exhibition in Europe.

This is the second show that Sandy has been involved in since graduating over the Summer, and has been working non-stop to keep up with the demand for her beautifully hand-made cushions, corsages and bag charms.

Can't make it? Then take a look at all her collection available to buy... here ...

Home is where the heart is..

The nights are drawing in so naturally we are wanting to spend more time indoors and snuggle with some trashy TV, (well, that's just us!) So to address the balance, we need those little homely touches, so why not indulge in something from one of today's featured designers, Sandy Powell and Rubyshoes Rocks...

Sandy is a recent graduate from London Metropolitan University, where she studied Textile Design for Interiors and Products. Her speciality is three-dimensional stitched textiles, which is certainly put to good use in her range of cushions, corsages and bag charms.

Her inspiration comes from structural aspects found in nature, and using them in repetition. What's lovely about her work is her use of accent colours in felt, taffeta and recycled leather, adding something special to an everyday product...

Now, you may be forgiven for thinking that bunting is something reserved for Summer Fetes in the country, surrounded by homemade cakes and preserves, but Rubyshoes Rocks is on a one woman mission to change all that!

Founded by Interior Designer Jo Ash, Rubyshoes Rocks started out at a little ol' homestead in South East London, making and creating bunting for friends, then for street parties, then for shops, cafes and festivals...

"My bunting isn't all about looking pretty. I'm determined to make bunting cool, and in disposable, something you don't just hang up for Summer tea parties. I hope my bunting is the sort of decoration you'll never, ever want to take down!" says Jo...

Need something to dress up your home? Find these lovely bits and bobs ...here...

...And all things nice...

Now, we don't think we're an authority on what's hot and what's not when it comes to fashion, but we do know what we like...

So today's featured designer is Holly Mansell, a fashion graduate from Essex College. We almost feel like old friends when we talk about Holly, as we've been following her progress since seeing her work at Free Range back in the Summer. Holly had one of the stand-out collections, and even more amazing to have seen it 'live' at her degree fashion show in all it's glory.

Holly's work has an antique appeal with touches of salvaged lace, vintage buttons and ribbon, which she has used in clusters on her hand-made bespoke ankle socks, which are available through our shop, of course, we couldn't resist them, so how can you?!

As well as featuring her hand-made fashion accessories, we also have her amazing fashion illustrations transformed into the cutest greetings cards, and a few personalised vintage gift tags to complete the set...be fashionably early with gifts for Christmas we say ...Click here to shop...