Super Christmas Market

I really wasn't very impressed with this event. I expected it to have a lot more products on offer and a lot more variety. There were a couple of items I liked, such as Tim Parsons half pint pint cups, but I've seen those many times before. A lot of the hand made jewellery looked like it should have been on a stall in a festival. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I had hoped to buy some presents here, but just came away feeling like I had just wasted my £2 entry fee.

Work in Progress...

...At the RCA

Knitting

I have been learning to knit as part of my final major project.

I can already crochet, but have never taken the time to learn knitting, but have recently taken it up as part of my major project.

I'm finding that it seems to have become increasingly popular with lots more of my age group learning, so much so that there are social events for young people to attend and discuss knitting. Although I am still very much a beginner, I'm finding it quite enjoyable, and finding youtube very useful with understanding certain stitches.

Clamshell Packaging

Article from November issue of Icon Magazine.

I found this article particularly relevant to me, as I recently bought a pack of stanley knifes in clamshell packaging, and struggled to get into them. They are one of the most annoying types of packaging out there!

Unto this last

I am focusing my FMP on Unto this lasts idea of having no stock.

I have taken this as a starting point for my project as I really admire this way of working.

I am looking into the idea of dressing furniture- personalising each chair, as this is one of the benefits afforded by having a no stock system.

Milk Bottles

Article I found and liked, in the Metro newspaper

major project

Our introduction to the third year in a series of 5 mini projects has now ended. Now we start our Final Major Project.

Watch this space for more information as the project progresses!

Alan Aldridge

The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes

Alan Aldridge - the Man with the Kaleidoscope Eyes is the first UK retrospective featuring the works of the celebrated illustrator and graphic designer Alan Aldridge. Dubbed the graphic entertainer in the 1960s and 70s, Aldridge illustrated lyric books for the Beatles, album covers for the Rolling Stones, the Who and Elton John, was Art Director for Penguin, illustrated children’s books such as the much loved The Butterfly Ball and designed adverts and identities for iconic brands such as the House of Blues and the Hard Rock Café. The exhibition is a complete display of complete works as well as sketches, notes, letters and other archival material as well as films; bringing to life the dramatic career of Alan Aldridge.

Patricia Urquiola

Purely Porcelain

Currently on at the Design Museum

One of the most active and exciting designers working today, Spanish born Patricia Urquiola exhibits Landscape, her recent porcelain range for the ceramic manufacturers Rosenthal. From dinnerware to tea sets as well as cutlery and glass, this exquisite design, which took over four years to develop, combines smooth simplicity with richly textured surface pattern.

Patricia Urquiola – Purely Porcelain presents the whole process from concept, through the process of manufacture, to finished product. See the complex, experimental and collaborative stages that transform a vision into a finished usable product.

Experiments in foam paper and plaster before casting.

3rd year

This September I started my final year at Kingston University studying Product and Furniture Design. We started the year with a series of 5 one week projects, each focusing on a slightly different context. We had projects based solely on brands, user needs and manufacturing processes.

For the manufacturing process project we were in groups, and each group given a process. Our process was slip casting. I had limite

d previous knowledge on slip casting, so I found this a really interesting and insightful project. We even attempted to slip cast something ourself- which turned out quite well. We learnt how we could manipulate the clay after being cast, along with many other qualities. Below are some images of slip casting that I really like and inspired me on the project.

This is an image of the jar that we slip cast.

COHDA

I recently attended a lecture series and Richard Liddle, founder of this company was lecturing. I found them really interesting, their approach to design and the issues on sustainability that they are trying to address.

Cohda Design Limited are a UK based urban contemporary product design company with a strong environmental focus. Conforming to various environmental strategies and objec

tives, we create thought-provoking, easy to comprehend, engaging and unique designs that implement and explore new technologies. With an integral presence they aim to break down the pre-conceptions of what ethical, innovative design should be.

URE LIVE

As part of the Designs Council's Design of the Time Festival in October 2007 Cohda presented their event, U.R.E Live. The exhibit took the form of a Recycling Design Factory that created a series of handmade recycled designs direct from waste plastics over a 10-day period. The plastic waste needed to feed the event was brought along to the event by the visitors to the exhibit, in the form of milk bottles, food trays, and various plastic containers direct from their waste bins.

www.design-event.co.uk www.dott07.co.uk

The factory was housed in a disused Fire Station on Pilgrim Street, in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK). The space was almost empty at the beginning of the event, but as the visitors supplied the waste materials needed to fuel the Cohda team's creativity, they saw first-hand how recycled products could be made. With the plastic rubbish they had donated being transformed on the spot into a range of beautiful and useful recycled designs. The final recycled products were displayed alongside information on how they were produced and the energy saved in the production process.

At the end of the week-long event Cohda gave away once design for every day of the exhibit. The winners of the designs were the fortunate few who had brought along their plastic waste, which was marked at the event with the suppliers details and the winners were picked out at random.

Thank you to everyone who got involved in the event and brought along there plastic.

Aram Store (September)

Under the Same Roof - New work by OKAY Studio

The exhibition is a unique insight into the way this group has set up their way of working in London. Collectively the exhibition will explore how many different approaches to life and a creative existence are possible under the same roof offering insight into the ambient ongoing process of being a designer in London today.

Piet Hein Eek

Piet Hein Eek, Pop up shop, within the London Design Festival.

A shop showcasing their work. I really like the use of old reclaimed woods, and the laquered finnish. I like the contrasting colours between the different types of woods. I like the simplicity and honesty that these objects have.

RCA

Wouldn't It Be Nice....

...... wishful thinking in art and design.

Current exhibition on at Somerset House, it brings together ten artists and designers whose work shares a common theme. Subtitles 'wishful thinking', the show's territory is a modest form of Utopianism, a whistle of optimism for how things could be, set against a bass note of misgiving.

Below is Couture Car Cover by Bless. Made from leather and foam, the idea is to enable the car lover 'to bring his or her favourite car upstairs and use it indoors for a different function: to sit, or sleep on it'.

Below is a piece by Martino Gamper called Collective Furniture.

Tent London 2008

Tent London this year was held in the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane following on from last year. It didn't seem as big however this year, not that this is nessasarily a bad thing, I tend to get bored if i have to trail around too long.

Kingston Uni's stand looked really good, and there were a few interesting designs. The exhibition is divided up into several parts, the old classics, and newer designs. Although I do love some of the old classics, the new section is my favorite to look around. 

Design Cities

Design Cities and the Design Museum, along with photos from designers in residence.

Fashion V Sport

Current exhibition at the V&A, Fashion V Sport explores the relationship between contemporary fashion and global sportswear brands, looking at how the two industries have both inspired and collaborated with each other in recent years. Garments, footwear, images and film highlight the way in which these products are worn, collected and customised.

Aram Store

Photos from the Aram Store in July.....