So, the big day finally came and after months of preparation the confessions of a design geek bursary shortlisted designers made their way to Home London to set up their stands, ready to take part in their first trade show.
2015 bursary winner Alicja Patanowska went for a minimalist aesthetic that put her products at centre stage.
Above and Beyond’s clever clocks looked great on a simple mushroom grey background.
In previous years only the winner has had their own stand with shortlisted designers displaying their work on a shared bursary stand, so it’s all credit to this year’s designers that their stands all looked absolutely professional. The mentoring workshop before Christmas clearly paid off, with lots of good advice from the mentors having been taken on board. Keith and Mark from Mini Moderns advised Jacqueline Siefert to display her wallpaper loose rather than papered to her stand, so people could see it was wallpaper – then took their own advice for their stand downstairs in Home too!
Some greenery added a bit of life to the trade show environment on Mind The Cork’s stand, where “That’s cork?!” was a frequent response from visitors.
This year for the first time the confessions of a design geek bursary space was expanded to enable us to invite back alumni from previous years, so it was wonderful to welcome last year’s winner Fanny Shorter back into the fold – her stand looked stunning in pink.
Thorody has gone from strength to strength since being shortlisted in 2013, and it was absolutely lovely to have them back – and for designers from subsequent years to learn from their experience. And finally, 2014 shortlisted designer Taz Pollard, completed our happy crew with her fabulous new Bite Me collection.
All the designers had an incredible time and learnt so much from the experience, so I have to say another massive thank you to the confessions of a design geek bursary mentors and partners who make this incredible project possible every year: Ian and Julia at Home London, Adam at the Southbank Centre Shop, Jess at West Elm, Yeshen Venema, R&A Collaborations, Blair at Press Loft, David at Seen PR, Keith and Mark at Mini Moderns, Jo at HAM, Justyna at Decorum, Daniel at October Communications, Patricia at The Design Trust, Ferren at Good Print, Fanny Shorter, Jessica Hogarth, Nancy Straughan, Annabel Perrin and Taz Pollard. Thank you.
Further reading for the especially geeky:
- coadgbursary :: open for applications
- coadgbursary :: deadline today
- coadgbursary :: the 2015 shortlist
