Bottom left: Kai Venus Designs‘ The cabinet of curiosity; Bottom right: Best stand award went to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee
The last design graduation show I attended this year was New Designers 2014 Part 2 at the Islington Business Design Centre. From my past experience, I know that it would be hard to check out all the work in one go, so I signed up for the ‘meet the design award winners tour’ in order to meet the award winners directly instead of wandering around aimlessly for hours.
Top left & middle: Alex Daniels, New Designer of the year award runner up; Top right: Dan Brooks, winner of Wilko Award for Innovation; Bottom left: Emilie Osborne, winner of the One Year On award; Bottom right: Elizabeth White, Mars award winner
One of my favourites at the show was the Designer of the Year runner up, Alex Daniels‘ “Fuse”. Alex’s walking aid design addressed an un-glamorous design problem for the elderly or people with walking difficulties. The walking stick can split into two parts so it can be used as a pair of crutches for both hands or a walking stick for one hand. Simple and yet very practical.
Another innovative design that I really liked was Numa, designed by Dan Brooks, winner of Wilko Award for Innovation. Numa is a heatless clothes dryer that aims to bridge the gap between static airers and tumble dryers. It can dry up to 5kg of wet clothing 3 times faster than an airer and costs just 5p an hour to run. It has a top mounted fan that provides a constant flow of air around the garments and a dehumidifier that extracts moisture from the surrounding air. I would love to see this product being available in shops sometime in the future.
Mars award winner, Elizabeth White‘s “Grow” is a clever plastic sandal design where the sandal grows and adjusts in length and width with the child wearing it, using a loop system and detachable straps. The design answers a clear issue of children outgrowing their clothes and shoes too quickly, leaving parents to purchase new ones on a regular basis.
Top left: Camilla Lambert, the Not on the high street associate prize; Top middle: Douglas Pulman, 100% Design winner; Top right: Graham Friend, winner of Procter & Gamble Award; Bottom left: Kit Shadbolt, John Lewis award winner; Bottom right: Camilla Lambert’s Musical Interlude
Winner of Procter & Gamble Award, Graham Friend has designed “Skypouch”, a smart solution to children’s travel. The ‘Skypouch’ consists of a waist component that is worn and adjusted by the adult prior to sitting down. The pouch itself once unfolded provides a seat for the baby and is secured to the parent’s waist. This removes the need for the parent’s arms/hands to be continuously occupied supporting the child.
Although we did not get to meet Camilla Lambert, I was drawn to the beautifully crafted acoustic iphone amplifiers by the Not on the high street associate prize winner. I also like her playful Musical Interlude (see above), which seems like a fun bench to sit on!
Top left: Joanna Mannix‘s Snug Collection; 2nd row: Peter Iveson’s “Study Bright”; 3rd row left: Oliver Richardson’s Kitchen Totems; 3rd row middle: Sense of making by Clare Evans; 3rd row right: Lou Lo’s “11g of ground, 22g of ground”‘; Bottom left: Wael Seaiby’s Plag collection; Bottom right: Marjorie Artieres’s “Note by Note”
Elsewhere at the show, I was also intrigued by Peter Iveson‘s “Study Bright” (see above), a low cost alternative lighting solution for developing countries which allows children to study in complete darkness.
For those who love kitchen gadgets, Oliver Richardson‘s Kitchen Totems would certainly appeal to them. The sets of kitchen utensils can be stacked into totem-pole arrangements in the order they are likely to be required. Each of the Kitchen Totems are designed for kitchen rituals that take place at different times of the day. Besides the primary functions, the beautifully-crafted set would not look out of place in any modern kitchens.
For futuristic kitchen gadgets, Marjorie Artieres ‘s “Note by Note” offers a new laboratory for those passionate individuals who seek a theatre for cooking. It recaptures the heritage of true cooking by combining the physicality of the analogue with the precision of the digital. His set resembles apparatus from a chemistry lab than kitchenware, will this turn us into alchemists in the future?
Three designers who use waste innovatively to create new designs are Clare Evens, Wael Seaiby and Lou Lo. Clare Evens‘ has created a range of household products and glasses frames using the smallest ‘micro bead’, tiny particles of plastic found in exfoliating beauty products that end up being washed down the sink probably ending up in our seas, combined with the more obvious discarded sea rope or plastic bottles that are found in the sea or washed up on the shoreline.
Meanwhile, Wael Seaiby‘s “Plag” collection aims to challenge that notion by delivering a line of hand-worked vessels that are reminiscent of glass or ceramic craftsmanship using HDPE from recycled plastic bags. The vessels are evocative of the bags from which they stem; their smooth finish, along with their distorted shapes, are directly inspired by the physical aspects of the crinkly plastic bags.
Last but not least, Lou Lo‘s “11g of ground, 22g of ground” is designed to target the current disposable paper cup waste issue. The average cup of coffee uses 11 grams of coffee ground, and this is what the coffee ground turns into- “11g of ground, 22g of ground”. It is an alternative to the current system that saves up to 80% of paper. By making use of organic materials in the process, they are 100% biodegradable. “11g of ground, 22g of ground” also enhances the coffee drinking experience by its desirable features such as the distinctive coffee smell and the attention to detail in the design.
Top: Beth Fox-Fuller’s ASDA packaging; Bottom: Robert Cooper
On the packaging front, I was attracted by Beth Fox-Fuller‘s fun ASDA “Count on me” packaging with cheeky slogans like “I’m a great catch” for smoked mackerel and “Bring me home” for bacon. The minimalist labels and catchy slogans create a personal touch between the consumer and the products, and I think they would most certainly ‘upgrade’ the image of ASDA.
Robert Cooper‘s Chocolate Airfix packs for Cadbury’s looks similar to a model aeroplane kits but actually it uses hollow-wafer technology to fill the shaped wafer sheet with chocolate. The pieces, which come in four different packs, can be stuck together to create a plane, a car, a horse or a dinosaur. I can imagine this being sold in supermarkets and being loved by kids. I wonder if Cadbury will consider manufacturing this or not? We shall wait and see.