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...

Spontaneous Repetition...

Last week saw the launch of the long overdue retrospective of work by Thomas Heatherwick at the V&A.

After completing an MA at the Royal College of Art, Heatherwick set-up the studio in 1994 as a space to explore all creative mediums from architecture and furniture design, to engineering and urban regeneration. His exploration of structures and surfaces using controlled repetition, as well as the creative spontaneity of an idea through materials, adds balance and a strong thought process.

Tucked away in The Porter Gallery, it felt like a more discreet offering than some of the other exhibitions at the V&A, but certainly didn't detract from the sheer scale, and confidence of some of the pieces on show.

What was really lovely about the exhibition was the emphasis on the 'studio'. The designs might be big and bold, but Heatherwick's ego certainly wasn't evident, as the range of works were all presented as collaborative projects.

At the entrance, visitors are invited to 'produce' their own guide by cranking a large handle which operates a huge engineered reel of paper, unravelling each section to a very satisfying 'tear here' perforation.

The exhibit weaves through the space, tracing the work and thought processes involved, all neatly stacked to make the most of the ceiling height of the gallery. Classic telephone receivers are dotted through the space with interview snap-shots adding another layer, with each area playing with scale and proportion just as much as the work itself.

The exhibition gives an intriguing and intimate insight into one of the country's design pioneers and someone well worth celebrating, the best of British...

Heatherwick Studio - Designing The Extraodinary is on at the V&A until 30th September...

Reading between the lines...

When it comes to maths, we're not the best, (well, me as the designer half of the duo anyway!) But in a genius cross-over from maths to design, today's featured designer has managed it.

Lizete Druku has recently graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Textiles, and has taken the structural qualities that exist in mathematics to create her own collection of textiles, as well as collaborating with jewellery designer Sarah Cunningham using polyhedra as a starting point.

"This project aims to resurrect the relationship between mathematics and pattern through aesthetic experience and to highlight the ethereal qualities of mathematic principles. By using the imagery from some of the seventy-five uniform polyhedra, forms from numbers and grid structures, the visual narrative creates a metaphor for the changing relationship between fashion and mathematics..." says Lizete about her inspiration.

In truth, the possibilities seem to be endless, and we are lucky enough to have a small collection of limited edition fine wool scarves, and etched jewellery pieces on offer in our shop. These are truly beautiful pieces, and it's proving to be very difficult not to buy them all for ourselves...check them out here before we do!!

Oooh sparkly...

Today we feel like the need for something sparkly, so today's introduction is all about jewellery...

Nicola Reed and Emma MacLeod have very different styles, but we love their individual approach, as well as their passion for design, and both are recent graduates from the hot-bed of talent that is Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at Dundee University.

Nicola has never wavered in her pursuit to create something unique. As well as experimental collections using vintage finds, freshwater pearls and sterling silver, she also collaborates with textile designer Sarah Nevey on the project entitled Re-Worked, which we featured a few months ago.

The collection we are lucky enough to be featuring on-line is Salvaged Bijoux, again, we gave you a sneak peek last month. She is also one of the designers featuring her work at the up-coming Made '11 in Brighton, with other recent graduates as part of the Vanilla Ink collective...

In stark contract, Emma's inspiration comes from the industrial back-drop of Dundee itself, and more specifically the docks. The cage-like structures are delicate in their inception, and the collection available shows a combination of sterling and oxidised silver.

Want to see more from Nicola and Emma? ...Click here...

Past & Presence...

The lovely thing about meeting everyone & talking about their individual collections, also means we chat about their friends & peers too. So during our meeting with Charlotte Beer last week, she mentioned a fellow graduate that she has been working with & collaborating with too.

Caroline Trigg is a ceramic artist, from University of Creative Arts Maidstone, & she has produced these beautiful vessels combining traditional ceramic methods with unexpected items such as string, gravel & lace, as an experimentation to evoke the feeling of something lost, while leaving a visible mark. With reference to fragility, deterioration & absence, her work has it's own history, presence, & strength, just stunning...

A Personal Journey...

Something sparkly makes our Friday top spot this week from graduate Roisin Connolly. Here is a quick snap-shot of pieces from her collection titled, 'Africa', where a visit to Kenya was the basis for her inspiration. We love a fresh & inventive approach to any craft, & these pieces make modern-day keepsakes, literally embossed with a hundred & one memories...

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...

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...

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...

Humble beginnings...

Our round-up of best bits from New Designers begins with the buzz around graduate Elizabeth Humble, who was featuring her work in the 'One Year On' area at New Designers. After a busy year, her return was duly noted by winning the One Year On Award, a mere twelve months after winning the prestigious Goldsmiths' Company Award. Some truly beautiful, beautiful work, Elizabeth takes inspiration from the rugged landscape of the west coast of Scotland, to create these fragile structures...

Future-proof...

We're in a pre-New Designer's frame of mind, and one of the 'One Year On' graduates has caught our eye today...Silversmith Kathryn Hinton's silver & bronze bowls have a futuristic feel with their subtle facet detailing, perfect for just about anywhere, a real investment piece...yes please!

Mathemagical...

The title is the name of graduate Lizete Druku's latest collection, where she has explored the manipulation of pattern on a three-dimensional form, and the link between pattern and mathematical understanding. We were drawn to her use of line, and the fluidity that she has managed to create from a very structured and hard-edged starting point. It's an interesting mix of academic & creative, and the obvious precision required to create a garment in the first place, makes this an intriguing first look at a thought provoking designer...

Structural Delicacy...

As I'm sure you can tell, we do have a slight weakness towards jewellery, and the work by Emma Macleod is no exception. Again from the wonderfully creative talent pool, Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee University, Emma takes the industrial aesthetic from the Dundee docklands to create these mini structural beauties. She manages to combine a toughness and elegance, and all balanced to perfection...

Pretty, Industrial...

                                                                     

We love the structured form, balanced with the fluidity of the oxidised zinc from this table by Gwen Gawthrop, a graduate from Manchester Metropolitan University, making it a true natural beauty! See more of her products here; http://www.gwengawthrop.co.uk/index.html