NEW DESIGNERS EXHIBITION PART 1

Part 1 of the new designers exhibition at the business design centre showed some interesting new ideas. Graduates seemed to be utilising new university equipment with a wide variety of lazercut fabrications and soft watercolour-wash digital prints. Alongside the typical graduate over-embellished and victoriana-inspired designs, themes that stood out were travel- especially in the form of military equipment and topographical mapping, and the strong use of lines of text in designs, as well as a clear rise in the use of embroidery. The 1980s was also still a big inspiration point for many with pop graphics and naive cartoony motifs seen everywhere, and oriental influences were also obvious.

Ones to watch out for in the future:
-David Mitchell (Somerset College)- black felted tree print on a jigsaw of black slate slabs. Surface textures with a sinister air
-Polly Burton (Chelsea College of Art and Design) - small-scale repeat prints on reels of fabric tape/ ribbon
-Sam Jones - felted geometric prints on latex
-Tomasz Dovocik (RCA) - violent and provocative jewllery using horse hair, twisted cord and gold spears
-Kyeok Kim (RCA) - light-emitting jewellery that shines tatooed motif across the body

There seemed to be an increased interest in organic fabrics and ecological issues, but Laura Nathan's mosaic of cubes of soap covered in a varying thickness of hair (seen below) was the most unique adaptation of natural resources seen!

New Designers