New Designers spotlights five design graduates who dare to be different

Statement textiles and geometric shapes are the cornerstones of the five bold graduate projects featured in this VDF school show, curated by the organisers of New Designers.

Presented under the theme entitled Bold/Geometric, the listed projects range from ergonomic cutlery to vivid women's sportswear and were developed by five recent graduates of universities from across the UK.

The work was selected from over 3,000 student projects that were due to be exhibited at this year's edition of the New Designers exhibition, which takes place annually in London and dubbed as "the UK's largest design graduate show" by its organisers.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the show has now been taken online, with 20 standout students being celebrated as part of the Virtual Design Festival. Alongside this Bold/Geometric-themed show, New Designers is presenting three more digital exhibitions that explore the themes of nature, circular economy and gender.

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New Designers graduate show

Showcase: New Designers
Theme: Bold/Geometric
Instagram: @newdesigners
Organiser: Upper Street Events

Event statement: 

"New Designers, the UK's largest design graduate show, celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2020 with the launch of a series of digital initiatives throughout the summer. In lieu of a physical showcase, the event will aim to promote and celebrate the work of the graduate class of 2020. With these virtual initiatives, New Designers hopes to offer graduates alternative opportunities to gain better insights into the design industry and advance in their professional careers in such extraordinary circumstances.

"Since the start of June, New Designers has been running ND Selects, a social media campaign that hopes to offer visibility and recognition to students' final projects. Each day, New Designers publishes a post about different students, highlighting their final piece, alongside their processes and influences.

"This year has seen a surge in final projects that respond directly to environmental and social issues. From game design to textile prints, the class of 2020 has offered creative design solutions for contemporary storage, diagnosing dyslexia and reconnecting children with nature. Making informed and considered material choices that are either recyclable or locally sourced has also been a key focus for many students."

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Rachel Elinor Toye

"Articulating her love for adding colour, Rachel draws inspiration from vibrant cities, combining textures and marks from materials like concrete, metal and wood that have been manipulated by different people and aesthetics over time. ⁠
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"She ensures her practice carries the same playful and bright impact. Rachel designs her prints for interior and lifestyle accessories to put happiness and colour onto something tangible and useful every day.⁠"

Name: Rachel Elinor Toye
University: The Glasgow School of Art
Course: BA (Hons) Fashion and Textiles⁠

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Geonature by Vahekeny Rodrigues

"Geonature offers two collections – a bespoke collection for the hospitality and hotel industry, and a commercial collection for transport design. Vahekeny has explored plant and natural forms, insects and fauna and examined structural qualities found within cityscapes, alongside the 2020/2021 trend and colour report Multi-Local from Heimtextil 2020 international trade fair.

"The transport collection has been inspired by renowned textile designers such as Enid Marx, and the hospitality collection made reference to design companies including Timorous Beasties, and others housed at the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre.

"Vahekeny has explored these diverse areas through methods of photographic research, and drawn studies incorporating a wide variety of painting processes, before taking these to the computer to digitally manipulate.

"Designs have been printed by repeat registration using a range of techniques such as devore, flock and foil printing onto different fabric substrates, both as fabric samples to obtain different textural qualities, and to take to the computer using Adobe Creative Suite and AVA CAD CAM as part of the inherent design process."

Name: Vahekeny Rodrigues
University: University of Bolton
Course: BA(Hons)Textiles and Surface Design 

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Geo cutlery by Sissel Gram Warringa

"Geo cutlery is everyday table jewellery, aimed at users honouring the little pleasures in everyday life. An exploration of how geometric shapes can become ergonomic."

Name: Sissel Gram Warringa
University: Kingston University
Course: BA (Hons) Product and Furniture Design

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City Glow by Asmita Gurung

"Gurung's design City Glow is a collection inspired by the vibrant colours and shapes found within the city. ⁠

"This collection brings the city to your garments through energetic prints, inspiring individuals to be authentic."

Name: Asmita Gurung
University: University of Huddersfield
Course: BA/BSc (Hons) Textile Practice⁠

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Erin Wardingham

"This vibrant collection of printed textile designs was created for the women's sportswear market with a potential for more diverse application to other products. Inspired by the mismatched compositions and distinctive geometric graphics of the Memphis movement, as well as utilising effects inspired by Op-Art, this collection aims to evoke a sensation of movement.

"Linear qualities balance block colours and a play with composition and pattern layouts create the illusion of movement for this dynamic market. All designs are digitally processed and are adaptable to a variety of sportswear material and surfaces."

Name: Erin Wardingham
University: Leeds Arts University
Course: BA (Hons) Textile Design

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Virtual Design Festival's student and schools initiative offers a simple and affordable platform for student and graduate groups to present their work during the coronavirus pandemic. Click here for more details.

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Didonè Comacchio Architects draws on Mies van der Rohe for Italian football stand

Italian studio Didonè Comacchio Architects has built a football stand that references the work of Mies van der Rohe for the municipal stadium in Travettore di Rosà, Italy.

The architecture studio designed the shelter to cover 300 concrete seats alongside a stadium used by football team FCD Transvector in a village near Vicenza in the north of Italy.

Its design is a simple response to the brief of providing shelter for fans with unobscured views of the pitch.

"The idea was to create a sheltered area as free as possible from elements that could stop the view of the field so to guarantee the entire action of the game to the viewers," said Didonè Comacchio Architects co-founder Paolo Didonè.

"The design of the shelter was the natural evolution of the concept," he told Dezeen.

According to the studio, the form of the shelter was directly informed by the work of 20th century modernist architect Mies van der Rohe and in particular his design for the Neue National Gallery in Berlin.

"We are always inspired by the simplicity and rigorousness of Mies's architecture, especially the National Gallery which is, to us, a classic design," said Didonè.

Like Van der Rohe's Neue National Gallery, Didonè Comacchio Architects' stand is sheltered by a single horizontal steel element.

While at the gallery this is supported by a grid of slender steel columns, the football stand roof is placed on two rectangular concrete piers placed at right angles to each other.

"The shelter is based on a cantilevered structure which is a typical element for football stadiums," explained Didonè.

"Our main objective was to create a structure that could answer to the initial brief – covered area, good view of the field – in the best way possible."

The rectangular, 30.5 metres long and 10.5 metres wide, roof structure is a made from a grid of steel beams that form a coffered ceiling.

Lighting is contained between the beams and covered by a dark metal grid .

Didonè Comacchio Architects is an Italian architecture studio founded by Didonè and Devvy Comacchio in 2013.

German-American architect Van der Rode was one of the most influential architects of the 20th century and was also the third and final Bauhaus director. He coined numerous phrases, including "less is more" and "God is in the details", and designed the iconic Barcelona Pavilion.

Photography is by Simone Bossi.

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Project credits:

Designer: Didonè Comacchio Architects – Paolo Didonè, Devvy Comacchio
Collaborators: Gianmarco Miolo, Denis Stoppiglia, Lorenzo Fravezz
Structural engineer: Ing Stefano Scomazzon (i+da)
Concrete structure contractor: Impresa edile F.lli Bizzotto
Steel structure contractor: Lorenzin

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Nick Knight says Kanye wanted Yeezy Supply website to have “the colour palette of a Monet painting”

In a short film, Nick Knight details the creative evolution of the ecommerce website’s redesign, from “brutal and lo-fi” to “beautiful and poetic", with stipulations for “no straight lines”.

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Justified Studio is an advocate for global change, working with transparency, authenticity and activism

The London-based studio tells us how we’re going into a ‘decade of change’ – an opportunity for the creative world to disrupt, refine and refocus.

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Jewellery designs from New Designers showcase question normative gender roles

A necklace strung together from images of male nipples is among five projects from 2020 graduates selected by the organisers of the annual New Designers showcase to be exhibited in this VDF school show.

The students, who hail from different universities and courses across the country, have shared designs that exaggerate and subvert traditional notions of femininity and masculinity, predominantly through the medium of jewellery but also through embroidery and graphic design.

Their work was chosen from the more than 3,000 graduate projects that were set to be featured at the annual New Designers exhibition in London this year.

In lieu of a physical show, the event is taking place digitally this year, with standout projects from 20 students showcased at the Virtual Design Festival, where their work is divided into the four key themes of gender, nature, sustainability and bold, geometric prints.

But even across these disparate categories, organisers say that students' work this year has been united by an increased concern for the environment, as well as for social and psychological wellbeing.

This can be seen in the five projects below, which are primarily concerned with issues of gender but also make a point of utilising recycled metals and ethically sourced gemstones in their production.

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New Designers graduate show: Gender

Showcase: New Designers
Instagram: @newdesigners
Organiser: Upper Street Events

Event statement: 

"New Designers, the UK's largest design graduate show, celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2020 with the launch of a series of digital initiatives throughout the summer. In lieu of a physical showcase, the event will aim to promote and celebrate the work of the graduate class of 2020. With these virtual initiatives, New Designers hopes to offer graduates alternative opportunities to gain better insights into the design industry and advance in their professional careers in such extraordinary circumstances.

"Since the start of June, New Designers has been running ND Selects, a social media campaign that hopes to offer visibility and recognition to students' final projects. Each day, New Designers publishes a post about different students, highlighting their final piece, alongside their processes and influences.

"This year has seen a surge in final projects that respond directly to environmental and social issues. From game design to textile prints, the class of 2020 has offered creative design solutions for contemporary storage, diagnosing dyslexia and reconnecting children with nature. Making informed and considered material choices that are either recyclable or locally sourced has also been a key focus for many students."

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Modern Venus by Daniel Groza

"Modern Venus is a high-end jewellery collection that promotes inclusivity. It highlights the beauty of individuality found within our body shapes and pigments.

"A variety of precious metals are used to create jewellery that matches all skin tones. The Japanese Mokume-gane technique of blending different alloys celebrates imperfections. The hanger motif symbolises rejecting society's image of the 'ideal woman' in favour of a realistic view of the female form, with stretch marks and limbs of diverse proportions.

"Tracing metals back to their natural source is a crucial feminist issue. Women who work at the beginning of the jewellery supply chain are often underpaid, as well as victims of abuse and discrimination. Reclaiming gold family heirlooms and using scraps of silver demonstrates a commitment towards ethical production methods.

"This collection speaks of important feminist matters and enables the wearer to use their body as a canvas – a visual representation of their beliefs."

University: Edinburgh College of Art
Course: MFA Jewellery and Silversmithing

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Symbols of Femininity by Celeste Chambers-Hill

"How is gender performed? Alongside ideas generated by theorist Judith Butler and writer Susan Sontag, this collection represents a personal, individual exploration of the ways in which gender is characterised in dress, style, costume, fabrics and colour combinations.

"The processes and practice of designing and making these jewellery pieces was motivated by particular ideas of what might constitute femininity, whether in popular culture, theatre, literature or film, where the feminine is symbolic of specific female energy or force. Playing with such notions of gender constructions, this collection includes objects exaggerated in scale and pattern, with pale, pastel colours that parody what is thought to be an inherently female palette.

"The overall appeal of drag performances and the ambiguity and humorous nature of such performance in particular, provide the context for this collection to challenge constructed and canonical narratives of gender identity. All precious metal used in this collection is 100 per cent recycled and the natural gemstones have been ethically sourced."

University: Glasgow School of Art
Course: BA Silversmithing & Jewellery Design

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Boys will be boys by Greg Sutherland

"My work is an exploration of male homosexuality and masculinity through the lens of a working-class background. I studied the fetishisation of the hyper-masculine within the gay community and how these masculine ideals can stimulate excitement, fear, rebellion and shame. More specifically, I concentrated on the impact of growing up as a gay man in the age of the internet, bringing into focus the impact of an oversaturation of explicit content and the birth of an image-obsessed body culture.

"Photography of the body provides substantial inspiration for my work, and I use it directly as a medium for creating jewellery. I view my pieces as possessing cyclical qualities, designing from the body and for the body. I also take inspiration from pop culture, traditional symbolism and the architecture of my hometown, which I use as a metaphor to express feelings of suppression, frustration and constriction.

"My approach to making is centred on traditional jewellery techniques and handmaking skills. I hope to blend humour, sex and fashion alongside my intimate feelings and experiences to create pieces of contemporary jewellery that are intriguing, captivating and offer a narrative."

University: University of Dundee
Course: BDes Jewellery and Metal Design

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Man Up by Sean Morgan

"Man Up is a booklet about toxic masculinity and how we can try to solve the problems it causes."

University: Plymouth College of Art
Course: BA Graphic Design

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Dollhouse by Francesa Lim

"I drew inspiration from my love of dolls, which I've collected since I was a child. My fascination with them is based on each doll's personal character and style as embodied in its appearance and the craftsmanship behind it.

"The collection is called Dollhouse because the dolls are grouped together into themed 'rooms' that represent their unique character. The Romanticism room is based on 18th-century dolls, while Fantasy features fairytale creatures such as fairies and mermaids.

"The Puppet series are handcrafted dolls from different cultures and Plastic features kitsch-like representations of quirky, modern plastic toys. These different elements come together as a colourful collection of eclectic and experimental designs, representing each doll's theme as an embroidered garment piece."

University: Royal School of Needlework
Course: BA Hand Embroidery

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Virtual Design Festival's student and schools initiative offers a simple and affordable platform for student and graduate groups to present their work during the coronavirus pandemic. Click here for more details.

The post Jewellery designs from New Designers showcase question normative gender roles appeared first on Dezeen.

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