Its that time of year when a fresh batch of graduates leap out into the real world. After years of focusing on the final degree show; that’s it. Its over.  Done. Time to figure out what the heck to do next. Do you set up on your own or will you be plucked from the thousands of other graduates for a dream job. New Designers held at the Business Design Centre in Islington North London is a showcase for this years graduates from colleges across the UK. Its great opportunity for this years batch of graduates to showcase their work; make new contacts and find out from last years graduates, over in the One Year On section, just how hard it is out there in the big wide world.

Week 1 focuses on Textiles, Fashion & Accessories, Ceramics & Glass Contemporary Applied Arts. 

Week 2 its over to Product & Furniture Design Visual Communications ans Spatial Design.

I can’t honestly say I looked at every aspect – its just too vast; but here is a taste of what caught my eye.

 Eva Joly’s Textile designs transform mundane household items into amusing contemporary patterns (1st image and below).  Using a dolls house scale to present the images of domesticity added to the sense of fun her design have. But aside from the fun;  its a commercially viable design and I’d love to see her work in various textile and paper forms.

Another textile designer whose work I admired was Anna Jensen from Bath Spa University. I’m afraid I can’t show you any images of her work they’ve been bought up- she’s done so well she won the Harlequin award which means they now own her work. A version of her work shown at New Designers will be produced but….  Well, hopefully it will see the light of day and not get chewed up and spat out in some watered down version.  That is the thing about graduate shows you just worry for them – or I do.  

Bulrushi Ercol Marita Szkutnik is a rather happy result of a project set between Ercol and Bucks New University. Marita’s wooden bench has wood dowels with flocked “bulrush” tops that can act as a coat stand. They don’t look sturdy but are surprisingly strong and when you brush your hand across them they wave about in a very pleasing natural way.  I think ; actually I know this was my favourite of the two shows. The picture doesn’t do it justice, but then it is a tactile piece. Marita is off to Rotterdam next, on a work placement – which is fantastic, shame I can’t remember with whom!  

The stand (pictured above) for the Northumbria University 3 Dimensional Design was incredibly impressive. I guess I was stuck by the graphic on the back wall and overall presentation of the stand. Any manufacturer would be proud of it never mind a University on a budget. But it was not only the presentation that was outstanding, it was the quality and craftsmanship of the work. It was all really beautifully made.

I particularly liked the work of Ellen Thomas (above),she showed her MILK stools, created as a response to a brief on value and what makes things valuable. Her response it a humourous mix of traditional craft techniques and contemporary aesthetics. Each piece has a etched pattern on the underside and one leg harks back to more humble milking stools. 

Over on the Brighton University stand the work of Adi Chambers from caught my eye.  I loved her beautiful Chippendale cabinet made from laser cut cardboard. Just as in the 18th Century apprentices made samples in minature, this piece was the same – but you could see exactly how it could be impressively transformed to life sized.

She also showed and inventive piece using discarded draws mounted onto a metal frame.  

This sample of New Designers is just a snippet of what was on show; and strangely I’ve selected an all female cast of high lights. This is in no means deliberate. But I would like to think that; particularly in 3D design where there has been a traditional male dominance; this is a thing of the past and we’re looking at an area of equality now.

  There was so much more to explore at New Designers do take a look over on their website  http://www.newdesignersonline.co.uk/

Idyll by Johan Lindsten His chairs shown in both Stockholm and at Designersblock in Milan “These stitches and dreams are for most people forgotten and thrown away to an eternal lost never to been appreciated. This furniture’s destiny is to elevate and promote these neglected pieces of art, bring back a long lost sentimental value and mix it with contemporary aesthetic”

Stitch by Pepe Heykoop is a range of items salvaged from skips or secondhand shops and given a new hand stitched fabric skin. The skin is then stuffed with soft fibres. I’m sure traditional upholsterers would dispair at the obvious lumps and bumps and the visible stitching; but that would be missing the point. They have been brought back to life and given a character by this treatment. The lamp is particularly animated and looks like he could jump about, reminding me of Pixar’s Luxo Jr 

  Under Construction #2 by Anila Rubiku for Plusdesign(pictured above & below)  is a beautifully stitched lamp constructed from paper with an LED light. Anila’s works offers a contemporary perspective to the traditional craft of embroidery with her chioce of subject matter and use of material. Using scenes from contemporary life, drawn and hand stitched onto the paper houses Anila’s work illuminates an everyday domesticity that we would all recognise.  

Urban Embroidery by Melissa French for Puff & Flock (detail picture below) This is another example of taking embroidery and applying the technique to an alternative material. Melissa has used an old bench and applied her own design (with the help of a drill) to plot the pattern across the surface.

Saved Handkerchief by Studio Makkink & Bey for Droog This limited edition range produced by Droog for Salone del Mobile 2010 was a response to the ongoing economic crisis. Droog purchased various items from companies that had gone into liquidation and invited designers to create something desirable from the unwanted. Studio Makkink & Bey were given 900 handkerchiefs to play with. They created an embroidery kit; with news reports from different newspapers printed over 30 days in March and screenprinted onto the handkerchief. They also provided a skein of embroidery thread and a needle. I have to say i,t requires a bit of skill from the purchasers (or should I say collector) but its an interesting challenge. I nabbed one, and you can spot a slightly confused looking me over on the Droog blog. You can also have a look at all the other products designers came up with in the range. 

Stool bySuperfolkThis Irish design studio produce products that are a tribute to Ireland’s traditional skills. The stools have been made using locally sourced Oak and Ash from sustainable forests. They can be linked together with  a series of cross stitches running through the holes drilling into the seat. If you don’t want to link them together the cord can be stored by doing a quick running stitch round the seat. 

 Industry Series by Studio Job.  Using a mix of contemporary and traditional  iconography they draw on the same themes and images used for the Gospel According to Saint Job displayed in Milan last year. Tanks, grenades ,helicopters, insects and butterflies, chimneys billowing smoke, skeletons all feature in this homage to the marquetry methods of André- Charles Boulle.  Dispensing with bright colours used in the Bavarian series the inlays look like fossils of an industrial age. Laser cut pieces of white birds eye maple have been set in Indian Rosewood in a symmetrical layout. We expect symmetry in marquetry but the effect here is like the inkblot patterns of Rorschach. Its no coincidence that these pieces are a commentary on the collective psyche and our concerns with the mass destruction associated with industrialism.

The work can be seen at the Carpenters Workshop Gallery and are sold as limited edition pieces starting at over $30,000.   

Curiously it is a fashion designer rather than a furniture designer who has probably done more to promote the craft. Stella McCartney has repeatedly used marquetry and commissioned UK companies to produce work in different forms for her new stores. For her London store Aryma were commissioned to produce a contemporary angel that glides across the wall. The use of colour and complexity of the piece is an eye opener to the versatility of marquetry. 

In her Milan store, the ground floor is covered in oak parquet arranged in a multicolored pattern created by the Israeli designer Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay for Established & Sons. The store opened in February 2010 and had the official launch during Salone del Mobile last week.

Toby Winteringham’s work made with Patternity is another example of colourful geometry. Pictured above is his Shift coffee table made of sycamore with coloured veneer. Its an exciting and bold use of marquetry and a wonderful example of how a traditional craft can be spliced with contemporary graphics. Shift was launched along with the Patternity Bureau (pictured below) at Salone Satellite this month.

 Since writing this I’ve found a rather wonderful blog on marquetry http://www.miartstudioblog.com/ Do please click through and amire the work.

Shown at Stockholm Furniture Fair 2010 Paul Smith has taken a series of wood frame chairs and recovered them with stunning floral digital prints. We’re used to seeing this kind of “brown” furniture upholstered in floral damasks of different eras. The fabric not necessarily matching the era of the furniture. They’re the inherited pieces passed down or sold on for the next owner to recover in their own way. Smith has just done exactly this, but in an exaggerated form. Detailed, close shot, naturalistic images with saturated colour as opposed to the stylised rather more dainty fabrics of old. 

Reglo by Sophie Hedderwick. Having majored in both weave and experimental textiles Hedderwick’s work  reinvents traditional pieces by combining ancient techniques of weaving with sophisticated new material.  “it is an ancient art that can be endlessly re-invented and interpreted to produce new and exciting forms, although a 2D craft it can be rendered as almost sculptural in form depending on the materials used.  My work is now a fusion of the 2 disciplines. In the last 5 years I developed this experimentation further using wire with lights which adds another dimension to the weave. Also in this project I am weaving off-loom which is a challenge for any weaver. The idea was to produce a new weave structure that was strong enough to sit on without using a traditional woven seat style” .Using reclaimed vintage chairs Hedderwick has  re-woven the seat base with bright electo-luminescent wires that light up for 5,000 hours. New work currently in development will be shown in Milan this year at Designersblock at Zona Isola  

Richard Hutten -Playing with tradition for I+I Milanshown at Object Rotterdam 2010. Richard has taken a complex Persian rug design and stretched the pattern out. Prior to computers we’d find this quite a shocking treatment of the design.  Now we’re all used to whizzing down a web page and dragging the pixels along with us, it doesn’t seem peculiar at all.  

“For already many years I had the idea to do something with traditional oriental carpets. I have an antique Persian carpet at my home, which I still find the best carpets to have. The idea behind the carpet was to build a bridge between the old and the new, east meets west. From this starting point I looked at various ways to give a reinterpretation.

In my previous work I also used existing forms which I than reinterpret. For the carpet I did research in the various patterns available. Than I came up with the idea to stretch the carpet a certain point. I found out it’s very important where to start the stretching. On the traditional side I kept the fringes, on the contemporary side I made a clear cut.”

Portmanteau After Thonet by  Mathieu Lehanneur. Mathieu has taken a familiar coat stand and gone a little wild with the hangers. I’m  guessing but the advantage over the original may be that it can hold a little more. I seem to remember my parents old fashioned version was always so completely covered,you wouldn’t know what was under the mass of coats. Its certainly a witty remake of a familiar piece and I hope it will go into production. Apologies for the photo, I think I was a little phased out by Maison Objet at this point and as it is a proto-type I can’t find better images at the moment.

Studio Job Bavaria Range Indian Rose wood limited edition of 6 produced for Moss. Inspired by Bavarian furniture of 17th & 18th Centuries, this range of furniture uses marquetry techniques but instead of laborious hand cutting, the inlays have been laser cut.  

Fergana Sofa by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso. Uzbek weaving techniques are combined with industrial manufacturing to produce a pared down version of the complex traditional patterns, more suited to western tastes. Another Uzbek tradition maintained in this piece is the positioning of the furniture. We tend to push our seating up against the wall, whereas in the Uzbek tradition is to sit in the round. The Fergana range are island pieces meant be seen from all angles, it would be a shame to push them to one side.  

Cathrine Kullberg combines fine workmanship traditional material and precision laser cutting to produce her Norwegian Forest lights.  The classic Scandinavian tradition of using thin birch strips was first used for lighting in the 50s & 60s. Cathrine has further updated the tradition with her beautiful forest scenes. Norwegian Forest lights show a deep pine forest with animals in light and shade. When lit, the blonde birch veneer shines with a warm glow, and the delicately cut forest motif lets light to filter out between the trees.  The lights are cut by a company producing model kits and are then hand finished using seams of natural leather lace For more of her work : www.cathrinekullberg.com

Niki Jones is a designer who trained at both the Scottish College of  Textiles and the Royal College of Art. Having worked for various interior companies as a textile designer and style coordinator she has now created her own company.   Seen here is another design inspired by Uzbek textiles.  The range is designed entirely by her creative team mixing traditional and specialist techniques. www.niki-jones.co.uk

Artist Yinka Shonibare covered walls, furniture and created clothes from traditional ‘African’ fabrics bought from Brixton market.  Although the fabrics look African,they are in fact Dutch and English. The designs appeal to African taste with colours and symbols of Africa mixed in with objects of life, for example mobile phones, and pictured above game consoles .  As Yinka says “They prove to have a crossbred cultural background quite of their own. And it’s the fallacy of that signification that I like. It’s the way I view culture—it’s an artificial construct.” 

I suppose with this in mind its ironic that Italian firm Moroso should create M’Afrique installation by American Stephen Burks and  SpaniardPatricia Urquiola.

“We wanted to showcase the creativity of a few of the great artists and exponents of contemporary African culture,” explains Patrizia Moroso, who devised the event, “because looking at Africa through the eyes of contemporary art, photography, architecture and design is perhaps the most appropriate way of approaching this vast, powerful continent, so creatively rich and diverse that today it is still one of the greatest sources of inspiration for modern design”.

Mixing recycling with traditional craft techniques is what we have come to regard as “African design” But companies like Moroso are now looking at using these skills, born out of necessity, to produce marketable products.

Seen below right is a design by Ayse Birsel & Bibi Sek being produced for the show. With traditional weaving skills which have previously been used on recycled cable, the artisans were set to work with new supplies to create products for the high end furniture market.

 And should you have your own idea or project that you would like to develop, Link Africa based in South Africa can help you get in touch with fair trade programmes who can produce your project.

http://www.linkafricahome.co.za/whatwedo.html

I’ve previously mentioned Philippe Bestenheider in my patchwork post but its worth showing his Binta chairs again “Binta was inspired by Africa. Its sculptural shape evokes African wood carvings, but its polyurethane rubber forms are softer. Like a baobab tree, Binta anchors itself firmly to the ground with thick, trunk-like feet whose elegant forms bring to mind the weighty baobab.” Gathered together they do look like a group of Yinka’s characters.

Building on his links in Africa and again using their traditional skills Philippe has gone on to produce his Kente range through Varaschin.

Traditional Kente woven cloth is produced in Ghana with each colour having a symbolic meaning. I’m not sure if Philippe’s colour selection is based on the symbolic meaning or purely on aesthetics , but heres a list of the symbolic meanings anyway, judge for yourself.

 Knitting along with other traditional crafts has enjoyed a revival in the past few years. We’ve rediscovered the art of making and experimented with materials old and new to create a whole different product

From a childhood spent in part in the Korean countryside Kwangho revisits the traditional craft of knitting and knots that he remembers from his youth.

For this range of lighting he was inspired by his mothers knitting and saw a pile of electrical cable as yarn and proceeded to knit a light, using varied lengths to create the different effects. Some wouldn’t look out of place wound round your neck like a scarf – not advisable though. Others appear wildly brush-like with the knitted loops extended out to trail onto the floor. 

In a further development Kwangho has knitted a sofa out of  garden hose. “I like to look for materials the same way I’m walking around the grocery store, thinking about what to make for dinner. And there is always a change in the end from what you start out thinking you’ll be making, which is quite charming. I just love finding materials, working on them and seeing where it takes me”

http://www.kwangholee.com/

Soojin Kang ‘s work  A Continuous Chain crosses the boundaries of art fashion and design, items can be worn or placed in the home. Her work is the antithesis of fast fashion and the problems associated with disposable design. Soojin  asks us to consider our basic needs and what we already possess and to use these materials wisely and beautifully. Using craft techniques and a combination of antique and raw materials to create the work is the logical means of expressing this. The craft traditions convey a considered thought process and have always seen the value in reusing and repurposing.

Olof Nordenson has encased a group of lights in what looks like mohair – but it could just be the light source picking up the finer bits of fluff! Five knitted braids extend down from the ceiling concealing the wires. As the braid is stretched the the wool gives the light a wonderful luminous texture. Olof has used a combination of hand and machine knitting.

www.olofnordenson.com

 Noose Light by Ana Maria Stewart-Pasescu is the culmination of a design challenge set by Phillipe Starck. Just a simple cable looped and knotted it could be seen as a representation of life and death. Its the choice and quality of material that really makes this design work. The chunky black cable, brass light fitting and the glowing element work so well together.

Moroso’s Victoria & Albert Sofa in African print fabric at Milan Furniture Fair  2009 

African American designer Stephen Burks was asked to design an exhibition based in Moroso’s Milan showroom. His work is a contemporary vision of Africa, translating traditional crafts into an industrial product. Seen here are Moroso furniture designs covered in patchworks of African textiles. This theme of mixing old and new carrys over into the design of the textile. In the detail shot you can see the handset from a games console used in a traditionally styled fabric design.  Mixing images of popular culture into these traditional fabrics is not unique to this project  - its a whole fascinating subject in its self!  www.moroso.it  

Arne Jacobson’s Egg Chair covered by Danish Artist Tal R 

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Egg Chair in 2008 Fritz Hansen the producer of the Egg Chair commisioned artist Tal R to recover this iconic chair. He came up with 50 patchwork versions.

  “The idea of combining this representative symbol of Danish Design which qualifies as high culture with patchwork which qualifies as popular culture, intrigued me. Patchwork is like a bubble and squeak of blankets. It’s the leftovers from the workroom, and traditionally something people have made together. It’s associated with collectivity. For example, people used to send patches by chain letters, and then one day you’d have enough to make an entire quilt.”

The chairs were first exhibited at Galleria Carla Sozzani as part of the 2008 Milan furniture Fair and are currently on tour around the world. For more info go to www.fritzhansen.com

Squint Limited specialise in creating unique patchwork covered furniture and accessories. Using a variety of fabrics from vintage silks and damasks to contemporary prints each piece is priced according to the type of fabric used. The range certainly isn’t cheap – £250 for a cushion up to £5000 for a sofa.

www.squintlimited.com

New exponents of traditional crafts are bringing a level of artistry that is refreshing in its approach; and the humour and wit that comes across in their work is something that we don’t associate with these traditional methods. I think when you say craft to someone it can conjure up all sorts of truly terrible images of bad taste. I’m not saying all new craft is great  – you only have to peep into Etsy to see the amount of rubbish there still is out there. I  just think that our changes in buying habits have given opportunities to a whole range of talented individuals who have successfully found a way of reviving traditional skills with new technology.

I think this trend works for a number of reasons. The means of production satisfies our desire for good quality handmade products with little or low enviromental  impact. It also fits in with our desire to reuse and recycle materials, many of these new crafters use vintage materials in their work. We feel we are supporting an artist, the little company over the big corp. We also feel we’re getting something unique in a time where every high street looks the same and sells the same. We can also learn something, its in the craft tradition to pass on your skills and many of these crafters have produced kits for you to have a go yourself.

 Whitney Lee’s work mixes latch hooking – a traditional rug technique, with images of pornography to produce some really cool work.  ” I was more interested in placing medium against subject in order to point out the dichotomous relationship between a crafty, “motherly” type woman and a sexually confident “slutty” woman. In  our society it is nearly impossible for a woman to be both types, when really the two should be able to coexist. My work was successful largely because of the giggly irony of seeing a sex-pot image in a medium that you associate with your grandmother” 

Have a look at more of Whitney’s wonderful work at www.madewithsweetlove.com

There’s also a couple of designers playing with cross stitch. Fuldesign in Sweden and Urban Cross Stitch in the UK both offer kits in the way traditional cross stitch companies do its just their contents are a little more subversive.  

Fuldesign produce a range of embroidery wallhang kits that are a cheeky update of the old proverbs and sayings of grandma’s era. Inspired by everything from hangovers to gay porn you can either buy a kit or download a freebie pattern if you’re a little more familiar with embroidery.

Urban Cross Stitch use images of graffiti, naughty little phrases and retro video games in their kits. They also run events where you can swap tips and ideas over cup cakes and cocktails. See, craft ain’t what it used to be…

Have a look at their full ranges   www.fuldesign.se  www.urban-cross-stitch.com

If you’ve ever come across crochet it was probably through some lovely relative who made you a tank top or poncho in some pretty loud colours. Well crochet is not all poncho’s and tank tops anymore. Last year the Hayward Gallery showed the work of The Institute for Figuring. They’d created a whole coral reef from all sorts of materials. Have a look here at their amazing work. http://www.theiff.org/reef/index.html

Another contemporary take on crochet is  Amigurumi the Japanese art of crocheting cute creatures. Narumi Ogawa is the creator of her own little character Mr Funky. Shes written a lovely book showing you how to create a whole range of creatures - although you do need a bit of experience to work out the patterns. Here’s a link to her work and her book

http://www.misterfunky.com/index.html

The great thing about these crafts is that if ever you get stuck you can always go into any yarn shop - yes they do still exsist or failing that John Lewis and you’ll alway find someone who will be willing to help – might raise a few eyebrows if you pop along with one of Whitney Lee’s porn rugs though…..

If you’re in Manchester in the next few weeks check out the UK Craft Mafia at Manchester’s Craft & Design Centre. Heres their link www.ukdiycraft.blogspot.com