New Designers is the annual showcase of over 3,000 graduating design students’ final projects, split across two weeks. I went along to Part 1 specifically to see the textiles and ceramics. The first thing I spotted was Sophie Southgate‘s Landscape // Colour. Sophie starts a one-year graduate residency at Cardiff’s Fireworks Clay Studios in September.
It was really excited to be allowed a sneak peek into some of the students’ sketchbooks to see their creative development process. Lara Kaminski‘s Wanderlust textiles collection is inspired by the Scottish landscape that surrounds Dundee University where she studies.
Another DJCAD student Laura Speirs presented Glasgow Shipyards, a collection based on the geometrical structures that dominate Glasgow’s industrial landscape.
Another collection inspired by the geometry found within the urban environment is Urban Fragments by Anna Petrie – I love the subdued mid-century colour palette. Anna has already done an internship with Glasgow favourite Timerous Beasties, so she’s learnt from the masters!
Surface pattern design of a slightly different nature – I loved Megan Hamer‘s Geometry Through Illusion project which used laser cut perspex to create tricks of the eye.
Meggan Johnson’s Textiles and Surface Design BA (Hons) graduate project from Buckinghamshire New University is an exploration of dots. She folds two adhesive dots of different colours in half, then sticks one half of each dot to the other dot, and the other half to a flat surface, and repeats this process over a large surface area, creating a three-dimensional pattern that shows a different colour dependent on the angle it’s viewed from. The effect is mesmerising.
Central Saint Martin’s graduate Anelise Drake‘s Because It Feels Right collection is made from linen backed with silicon and explores the intricacies of living with OCD. “I aimed to shine a positive light onto this condition by producing an exciting kitchenware range,” she says.
Stacey Etieve of Heriot-Watt University on the Scottish Borders had already caught the eye of John Lewis by the time I visited and I can see why. Her sophisticated yellow and grey colour palette is right on trend.
Finally, it was an absolute delight to see confessions of a design geek Bursary shortlisted designer Taz Pollard showing new work at One Year On, the section of New Designers dedicated to 2013’s graduates. I absolutely love her ice-cream bowls moulded on the bottom of fizzy pop bottles.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- out and about :: central saint martin’s degree show 2014
- out and about :: coppicing with sebastian cox
- out and about :: clerkenwell design week 2014
- out and about :: clerkenwell design week 2014 preview
