Still life...part one

A couple of photography graduates really stood out to us at Free Range from The University of East London, one of which was Alex Cudby.

These stunning portraits featuring Ufama Itoje taken at Wapping Power Station, feel like old photographs brought to life, slightly unnerving, but with a modern relevance, and a definite fashion quality...we're almost speechless...

People watching...

As part of our round-up the shows at Free Range last week, we stumbled across some lovely work from illustrator and designer Helen Parsliffe, from University of East London.

Her free-hand illustrations from a collection called 'London Queues' were particularly striking. We love the looseness and fluid approach, and a depth that really added personality to the individual characters she portrayed. Plus I'm sure she won't mind us commenting on the likeness there is to the wonderful work by Quentin Blake, we were transported back to childhood in an instant!

Vintage finds...

As promised, this week we'll be featuring a few of our top finds from our first round of Summer shows. 

Free Range hosts universities from across the country and this weekend saw work presented by Maidstone, Greenwich, Barking & Dagenham and South Essex College...

We start our mini round-up with fashion designer Holly Mansell from South Essex College. She takes influences from vintage looks and translates these into unique textured pieces, which forms here collection, 'My Grandmother's Attic', but not only were we drawn to her collection, but also loving her fashion illustration too, which we had to feature. A look into the past, but definitely up-and-coming...

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...

A Dynasty in the making...

We came across Yas-Ming Ceramics about a month ago, and it was lovely to see them, and their work in person at the Pulse London event over the weekend.

We were most excited about the Launchpad area dedicated to up-and-coming designer-makers, and this is where Yas-Ming were based.
There's always room for a sense of humour in design, and their ceramics certainly tick that box.
All the work is completely hand-made by Yasmin Dilekkaya and Ming Wai Sun, and they have been working together since graduating from University for the Creative Arts in Rochester last year.
We're fans of taking a simple idea and really crafting it in a unique and inventive way...looking forward to catching up at New Designers at the end of the month...

It takes two...

What's great about these two graduates, is that they pretty much encompass exactly the reason we are doing this...Not only are they amazingly inventive in their approach, but also working with the geographical challenges of living in two different parts of Scotland.

Re-worked is the collaborative project by Sara Nevay and Nicola Reed. Two graduates from Duncan of Jordanstone, University of Dundee, (we're big fans of the talent coming out of this establishment, and we'll be paying a visit in the not too distant future.)

Nicola with a Jewellery and Metalwork background, and Sara from a textile background, have come together to explore and experiment with their two specialisms to create some inventive and unique work.
We love the fact that their blog is literally their sketchbook and the quickest way they can get their ideas down 'on paper'. I could go on, but please check out the blog for yourselves, it's well worth a look and we'll certainly be in touch ladies...love love love!

Mind your P's & Q's

In an attempt to showcase some of the most diverse design work around, we are loving the beautiful hand-writing of designer Lisa Gordon Scott, and how she has turned her everyday scribble into something special for friends, family and beyond...now what can we ask her to write...um, everything?!