Joules x New Designers

It’s that time again, fledgling designers are being pushed gently out of the nest and into the real world. It’s an exciting time, and I was lucky enough to visit New Designers to take a look at the new talent graduating this summer and learn more about how Joules champions creativity.

Last year I visited New Designers with Joules and my friend Nancy, and this year I was lucky enough to do it again. It is so lovely to combine my love of design and social media in such a nice project. We started the day with lunch at Bourne and Hollingsworth before wandering over to the Business Design Centre to check out the work on display.

I was really impressed by the work on display, and I’ve highlighted some of my favourites breaking it down into several main trends that I saw emerging.

A Sense of Place

I noticed that many of the projects on display were strongly inspired by a particular place. This is very important to Joules, as the print designers to take regular research trips around the UK to gather inspiration for their seasonal prints.

The winner of the Joules prize for graphics and illustration Megan Williams from Nottingham Trent University. Her work was sophisticated and diverse tackling everything from packaging design to public awareness campaigns. I particularly liked her project exploring the Leicester dialect, which combined photography and handwriting text and created a strong sense of place. The judges picked her work as it is is colourful, sophisticated and shows a sense of humour and a real maturity.

One of my favourite projects in the exhibition was Amaia Kurschincki's project taking inspiration from a trip around Mexico. Having been to Mexico myself I immediately and recognised the blend of folk art and religious iconography and loved the colourful tactile quality of her work.
 

Evy Prentice from Norwich University created work inspired by taking walking tours of Norwich. Colourful screenprinted models were inspired by the Dutch influence in East Anglia.

Elysia Anthony studied illustration at Norwich university and specialises in printmaking. Her work also takes inspiration from the Norfolk landscape. She translates sketchbook pages full of energetic observational drawings into dark and moody etchings.

Handmade Processes

Despite the technology available for creating and printing designs always progressing, I saw a strong return to traditional techniques, in particular screenprinting. Many of the students spoke about how they preferred the tactile qualities of painting or screen printing. Handmade processes are very important to Joules as all of their prints start with multiple sketches and paintings. Handmade and the traditional is still a big part of the design process

Remy Goddard's work made us smile as soon as we saw it. Her work is charming, naive yet sophisticated and evokes strong childhood memories of summer at the sea side. Her work really makes use of handmade processes, with everything painted by hand or cut from paper. Even reproduced onto textiles you can still see Remy's distinctive brushstrokes and the characteristic sharp edges of cut paper. She also had a beautifully fresh colour palette and it was a joy to be able to flick through her portfolio and see her original artwork. She was chose, as the winner of the Joules Print Award as the judges felt her work personified Joules' playful side and was perfect for the brand.

I loved the muted, abstract work of textile student Eve Campbell from Glasgow School of Art Her screen printed concrete tiles particularly stood out to me and created a wonderful backdrop to her work. It was also lovely to be able to flick through her sketchbooks

Another textile artist using screenprinting was Becca Smith from Leeds Arts University, whose work was much more colourful and full of exuberant line work. Her work celebrated the glorious every day, from cheese graters to spectacles.

I also loved the textured screenprinted designs of Sarah McCann from Heriot-Watt University. She uses a sophisticated colour palette and a range of mark making techniques.

Traditional Techniques

It was great to see so many unusual and traditional techniques being used. Robyn Nisbet, from the University of Dundee, created a beautiful range of natural dyes which she used to screen print textiles and garments with stunning results.

Anna Hopkins from Loughborough University combined traditional techniques of weaving and cyanotype to create a stunning range of textiles and products. To create the cyanotypes sun reactive fluid was painted directly onto the fabric then leaves and flowers were laid on top to allow a pattern to develop

I was so bowled over by the talent and creativity of these graduates. Every time I visit New Designers I leave feeling so inspired. I definitely recommend looking at these ladies' websites and following them on Instagram, they are definitely ones to watch and I’m sure they all have exciting careers ahead of them. Thank you so much to Joules for this opportunity. 

Disclaimer: I was paid by Joules to attend New Designers and write this post, but the words and thoughts in this post at all my own. 

Joules x New Designers

Last week the team at Joules invited myself and my fellow blogging buddy Nancy to afternoon tea and a chance to explore New Designers. New Designers is one of the most important design events in the UK, offering design graduates a chance to showcase their work to the creative industries. For the first time Joules sponsored an award at New Designers; one lucky graduate won a cash price, a paid placement and a paid assignment to create a mural for their pop up store in Wells-next-the-Sea. Joules were looking for someone with a good understanding of colour and print, with eye catching, fresh designs that also have comerical apeal.

The winner was Chloe Hills, who studied Textile Design for Fashion & Interiors at Bath Spa University. Her winning piece was designed to create the feel of an overgrown jungle, with prints created large scale to maximise impact.  I got in touch with her to ask her a few questions about what inspires her and how she created her final piece. 

The theme of my hand painted wallpaper piece was Dark Florals & Foliage, giving it a slight twist by adding a pop of accent colour, to this very moody theme and creating over-sized imagery. What inspired my final wallpaper, 'Love-Lies Bleeding' was  my collections of floral imagery that I gathered over the summer from RHS Hampton Court Flower Show, RHS Wisley Gardens, and from trips up and down the country visiting many gardens.  I wanted to combine a contemporary feel with a very traditional theme using abstract shapes and a sophisticated colour palette. 

I decided to hand paint this piece because I wanted to be more hands on with the design as a final piece and my aim throughout was to make an immediate visual impact which I felt the hand painted finish would do, as sometimes a design can get lost within a digital print for example. For me , It was also about getting the colours right which was something that I felt I had control over which was key. There is something unique too about it being hand painted, as it is it a one off piece. Plus it is exciting and I enjoyed doing it! 

I am always on the look out for colour combinations. Colour inspires me greatly especially unusual and unexpected combinations when it comes to a new and exciting project the first thing I do it seek out on trend colour schemes. I like to revitalise a palette and think carefully about my proportions of colour. Inspiration comes from plants, gardens, natural sources, scenery and also architectural features from my surroundings.  

What really surprised me about the exhibition was the high quality of work and the professional presentation. I was worried I was going to see the same old things again (I think we've all had enough of pineapples prints) I was really impressed by the fresh approach and unique ideas of the students. Here are a few of my favourite trends.

Monochrome Textures

You could see the influence of Scandinavian minimalism in some student's work, with the use of cool greys and interesting textures. These textiles are perfect for modern interiors. Jane Woolley creates beautifully tactile throws and cushions using natural fibres. Chloe Scott uses lino printing to create her cushions and textiles, and Isabel Cross brings her limited colour palette to life with touches of gold.

Jane Woolley

Chloe Scott

Isobel Cross

Painterly Detail

Painterly detail was a huge trend, whether it was loose water colours or detailed gouache paintings. Tana Pither's stunning work is painted with gouache and inspired by botanical illustration and old photos of the East African coast. She has had placements at House of Hackney and Timorous Beasties, and you can feel the influence of that in her work. 

Tana Pither

Tana Pither

Natalie Percival creates beautiful textiles with her loose watercolours, inspired by the rugged scenery of Norway and the rolling hills of Surrey.  Matthew Hodges work is simply delightful, inspired by the flora and fauna of British summer time and a love of colours. 

Charlotte Atkins bought a fresh approach to tropical prints, with bold brushstrokes, a monochrome palette and sheer fabrics. 

Charlotte Atkin - Matthew Hodges

Pastel Geometrics

Nadia Aggoun's work mixes the geometric with the botanicals in soft pastels shades. Her work reminds me of the patterns found in geometric tiles.

Nadia Aggoun

Quirky Details

Isla Rustrick and Lizzie Porter stood out for their quirky details and hand drawn approach to textile design. Isla Rustrick was inspired by OAP style icon Iris Apfel and her work involves screen printed illustrations and knitted details. Lizzie Porter's work also includes niave hand drawn details and embellishment. 

Isla Rustrick - Lizzie Porter

The thing that really surprised was the lack of online presence these graduates had. Often the graduates didn't have a website at all, or they had a free website that was difficult to use. New Designers is such a wonderful platform, and it's a shame that the online presence of these graduates didn't match up to their incredible work. You don't need anything complicated, it's so important that the website is easy to use, easy to find, and people can contact you. If not you don't know what work you might be missing out on. You can read some of my top tips for graduates here.

This post was created in association with Joules, but all words and thoughts are my own.