out and about :: pulse 2013

Pulse is at Earl’s Court, London, 12 – 14th May 2013. I spent the day there yesterday and had the unenviable task of selecting my top ten exhibitors from LaunchPad, the section dedicated to new designers, and then judging the award for Best New LaunchPad exhibitor – there was just so much to choose from!

As a Cornish lass, you can image I’ve seen my fair share of seaside themed, well everything really! It was really nice to see a fresh take on maritime influences that were coastal without being corny!

Hole in my Pocket is Allistair Burt, an architecture graduate, who works on projects as diverse as exhibition design, painting, video, writing, performance art and conceptual work as well as… “traveling around the coastline of Scotland with an old air hostess trolley full of wine”!

I was lovely to finally meet Andy Rouse aka Caslon&Co in person, having featured his work on the blog back in March. It’s really hard to pick a top ten from a mixture of designers you know, designers you’ve featured before, and designers who are completely new to you, so I focused just on the work that was at Pulse.

Caslon&Co’s gorgeous cushions, made with vintage printing blocks, were definitely made the cut!

I recently posted an interview with Abigail*Ryan, at which point they were able to tell me all about their new range, but didn’t have any pictures, so I was really keen to it when I got to Pulse.

…and here it is! I loved this colourway particularly, with the contrasting turquoise and orange creating a real zing!

Home Slice were part of the Southbank Centre Boost programme, so it was very cool to see them with their own stand at a show like Pulse. They were launching their new cushion range, which is a clever extension of their unique brand of British style.

I also loved their mugs, which I hadn’t seen before. You can read my interview with Steph and Ellie here.

Jessica Hogarth won the confessions of a design geek Bursary in January, but it would have been wrong not to include her work in the Pulse top ten, because it was up there amongst the best in show. I actually really liked the new wallpaper she’s trialling, tucked away as stand styling behind her fabulous cushions!

Seven Gauge Studios on the other hand were completely new to me and I instantly fell for their yellow and grey geometric patterns.

But if you think their products look gorgeous, wait until you touch them! So soft!

On the Central Saint Martin’s stand, I loved Kangan Arora‘s work, inspired by the colours and patterns of Indian street culture, created by a homesick designer from Punjab. Absolutely stunning!

I saw Emily Bucknell at the East London Design Show at the end of 2012, but Pulse was her first trade show, something she was very excited about, if surviving on very little sleep! I love the complexity of her designs, which are all hand screen printed.

There’s something quite grown-up about her work – I’m a fan.

I also loved Holly Francesca‘s maps. Inspired by a market on a her doorstep to take her first leap into commercial design work, she received her first big order and was in production immediately. I love the mix of factual map design and illustration and the colour palette she’s chosen.

I met Joanna Corney at New Designers One Year On, when her work, much of which featured the Brighton Pavilion, was much more curvilinear. I love the way she’s developed her style, using more rectilinear architectural shapes to create pattern repeats.

So much so, that after much deliberation, I decided to award Jo the Best New Launchpad Exhibitor award! Congratulations Jo – it was well deserved!

Further reading for the especially geeky:

• interview :: abigail*ryan
• interview :: roddy&ginger
• out and about :: pulse preview