I have been out exploring the fabulous delights of South-East Asia, gaining loads of inspiration and ideas for my blog! So after over 2 months of incredible vietnamese food, bustling asian cities, and stunning landscapes, i’m finally back on the blogging scene!
Wondering round aimlessly, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Over the next few posts, I will be documenting some of my time in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore. From the enchanting limestone peaks of Ha Long Bay to art galleries built inside treehouse’s in Chiang Mai. From the wonders and hidden secrets that lie in the heart of Phuket Town to my time during my very busy internship in Singapore.
Fresh food market, Hoi An, VietnamHidden treasure of Arab Street, Singapore
I have so much to share and bursting with ideas for my final year at university! Hope you enjoy my posts as I re-live the most exciting parts of my journey.
The Scandinavian trend is back and taking over all interiors for 2016. Sleek, modern furniture with geometric pastel patterned acessories are a really quick way to up-cycle a room without the need of any major changes! High street shops such as Urban Outfitters and and H&M are selling some really quirky, statement pieces in their homeware departments. Whilst slightly more upmarket brands such as Danish interior brand, Ferm Living, are perfecting this timeless, classic style.
Here are a few of my favourites from the brands and the staple accessories to bring together the look…
Adorn Hanging Copper Plant Triangle £35 Urban OutfittersArrowhead Duvet Set £32 — £55 Urban OutfittersFactory Side Table in Mint £65, Urban Outfitters
Urban Outfitters are always trying to be one ahead of the big trends. Here they display some really lovely accessories that blend perfectly into the upcoming Scandi trend.
Foliage and hanging plants are a really popular trend thats emerging. I really loved the copper plant hanger as copper works beautifully with the greens of the plants and adds a warming element to quite a cold, pastel look.
Up cycling, or investing in metal tables is a staple item to add to the trend. I love the mint green coloured table from Urban Outfitters. It instantly lifts the room and brings interiors bang on trend.
H&M are a band that is just starting to evolve into the interiors market. As one of the most successful Scandinavian brands in the UK, it was inevitable that the brand was going to be successful, especially with the scandi trend coming back into fashion and interiors.
All of their photoshoots portray the scandi trend perfectly. The monochrome backdrops add a sophisticated calmness to the bright geometric patterns.
These images are from Ferm Living. They have perfected the style with all of their accessories and their dynamic colour palette and it is very clear to see that this brand illustrates the higher end of the market.
This summer I am going to Singapore to do a placement with the textile studio, Talking Textiles. I can’t wait! The company bases its concept around the south eastern culture, in particular the tropical, vibrant city state of Singapore. Deborah Mckellar, the founder of the company, moved to Singapore for the rich culture and exotic surroundings whilst being in a bustling city. She focuses her designs on interior spaces and has a very distinct, abstract and vibrant style of work. This individual style that has worked so well for her company is a wonderful way to illustrate the colourful country of Singapore.
Here are a few examples of the Talking Textiles art and textile prints…
I feel that Deborah McKellar has really observed her everyday life in Singapore with many of the projects she has undertaken. She combines authentic and rustic Singapore with the modern day life that overwhelms much of the country now. The multi tonal and combination of different marks and imagery portray the diversity within the culture. I feel that the bright colours almost illustrate the exciting nature of the country.
Singapore is named the ‘garden city’ as it is full of beautiful, exotic plants from the tropical climate. I’m really excited to visit the botanical gardens there, I’m sure that will be a source of a lot of Deborah Mckellars inspiration for her prints too! She mentions on her website that she enjoys the layering and intertwining of foliage which is mimicked within a lot of her prints by the layering of different mediums.
I really love the raw, organic tropical imagery in these two prints. Its photographic yet painterly at the same time with really interesting shapes within the print. I think the monochrome image with the coloured circles really brings the print to life and makes it more than a photographic, generic print and more of a artistic understanding of the place. (below)
Like many people I know, the prospect of starting a new project is super exciting, with ideas here there and everywhere. However, that first page in a brand new sketchbook can be daunting.
We need to see sketchbooks as a collection of ideas. A way to brainstorm different images, marks, patterns and colours. The best sketchbooks are the chaotic, energetic and unconstrained ones. The journey that one takes through an idea and project is much more interesting to examine when their is a personal connection to the madness created.
I personally don’t think there is any sketchbook better than others. Some people fork out loads for a beautiful moleskin sketchbook and every sketchbook will be co-ordinating to that. I have also seen that some of my favourite sketchbooks have been ones that people have created themselves, wether being bound or folded into a book. This sometimes adds a little bit more of a personal quality to the visual inspiration and you are able to marry your project theme with the way you present your work.
My issue often when starting a sketchbook is WHAT to draw. I normally start off with some fun and quick drawing exercises just to get something down on paper to get rid of that initial fear. I really enjoy the type of unexpected and fun marks that are revealed from blind drawing. I also try drawing in different mediums (one thick and one thin for example) for 20 seconds at a time and alternating this a few times. Other interesting ways to develop colour work is to paint only the light shapes or the shadows in a still life. This suggests items but gives the sketchbook a much more playful and free style to work from.
I think it is very important to begin any project with a sketchbook that you really love and will enjoy to work in. One of my favourites is this A4 (also available in A5 and A3) sketchbook by Seawhite of Brighton. It is a moleskin style book but with a leather cover. At the back of the sketchbook there is a large pocket, which is one of my favourite parts of the sketchbook – so useful for all of my scraps of work that I manage to accumulate!
I bought this from the Bonnington shop at NTU for only £7.15
Following my last post on tropic prints, here are some of my photographs from my trip to Guatemala last year. These were all taken at Tikal and Lago de Atilan, two of my favourite places on the trip and I think its clear to see why! The word paradice springs to mind… I really love the variation in shapes in this image. The combination of tone on tone make the patterns even more vivid and interesting through light and shadow.
One of the Myan temples peeking through the exotic palms.
A few weeks a go I took my first trip to the Bristol Botanical Gardens owned by Bristol University. It is only a small area but I was able to get a lot of great imagery for future projects. As palms and tropics have been a growing trend in all aspects of design, and with trends for 2016 heading in the same direction, I thought it would be interesting to collect some visual research from the tropical greenhouse.
I was really impressed with how well kept and varied the gardens were, and the best part, they were free to visit! Although they may not match up to Kew gardens or Birmingham botanical gardens, it was a great way to begin some inspiration.
As a typically summery, bright concept for trends, very little tropics have been explored for A/W collections. However, from different trend blogs and websites, it is looking like A/W 2016 will be introducing new types of exotic print. Deep indigos and teals make the colour ways for an ethereal take on the concept with a darker and more muted colour palette for A/W.
House of Hackney have displayed this in their collection, Palmeral. In a variation of different colour ways, the printed theme can suit many different interior settings and is a suitable exotic style for all year round. Here, the midnight and green sofa in a palm repeat print, is really fitting for an a/w purchase but could be carried through summer seasons with the concept of tropics.
The concept for the collection is based on ‘Loddiges’, one of the world’s largest palm houses based in Hackney during the Georgian period. The art deco style print aims to portray the palm springs style of the 1930’s in a more contemporary style by experimenting with less obvious colour variations and scales.
Another trend I have seen evolve in recent interior collections is the toile de jouy style print with an exotic setting. Very much like this House of Hackney print, Sumatra, the classic french style is depicted through an Indonesian jungle illustration in a deep blue hue. This modern take on a traditional textile style is innovative and is an interesting way to combine new trends with old concepts.
I think there is much more to evolve from the concept of tropics and I’m excited to see how the new trends of 2016 are going to display this. Watch this space!
As my third and final year is approaching at a rate of knots, I am getting more and more excited to get my teeth stuck into two final projects.
However, now….
I am left stunned and terrified after seeing the year above me displaying their work in the graduate show.
As a print student, I was most excited about seeing the printed textiles in the show. There was an interesting variation of interior and apparel printed textiles which made for a very interesting exhibition and something that you wouldn’t necessarily see in many textile exhibitions.
Digital textiles seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the show with some students combining a few different techniques such as flock, devore, foil application and traditional screen printing. All of the samples in the show and the portfolio room were varying in sizes and all worked well with their individual theme.
One students work who’s really stood out to me was printed textile designer, Liz Donnelly. Her final collection, Sissing Hurst, explored florals and nature through very abstract and painterly ways. The colours in which Liz chose to work with were very bold with clashing pops of fuchsia and bright yellows. The muted colours of greys and teals were a common fixture within her final samples which made the collection very contemporary for both interiors and fashion. Liz decided to display two wallpapers, two large samples and a dress in the exhibition, I found this especially interesting as I am undecided about what direction to go in regarding interiors and fashion fabrics and this seemed to work very well and the combination complimented each other very well.
Another student that I found really stood out for me in the exhibition, mainly because of the style of work, was Amy Foster. Again, a printed textile designer, who’s work was of pastel tones and very playful layering of textures visualised for fashion textiles. After looking through her visual research, she is very playful with imagery through many different techniques such as collagraph printing which produced really interesting, organic textures that followed onto her final work. Using an A1 sketchbook for all of her visual work, the paintings themselves from page to page were beautiful alone! I really loved the way that her work translated into textile samples and I think her style is very constant throughout.
I hope to keep a close eye on how everyone develops and see how everyone gets on outside of uni! I am very nervous for next year after seeing the level of work that has been produced to say the least!
The Textile Design graduate show is running for all of next week in the Bonnington gallery at Nottingham Trent University.
Work by Liz DonnellyWork by Charlotte PotterWork by Amy FosterWork by Aimee KeenanWork by Liz DonellyWork by Liva VilemsoneWork by Willow Malin
This week i have been on work experience with Hillary’s Blinds in Nottingham. The product team took me to a photo shoot on Wednesday to see how they photograph ranges.
I was able to see the way in which the photographer tries to create natural light in the studio and how important the role of an interior stylist is to the photo shoot and branding of collection.
As this was a christmas photo shoot, getting hold of a fresh christmas tree was challenging for the interior stylists! They also had to get various props to marry together the look that the product team have briefed to them.
It was very interesting to see how the photographer created an image that focuses on the product, the blind and curtains, rather than the other props.
It was a great way to see how the whole concept comes together from product and trend to the styling and end result in the photo!
So apparently today is ‘National Burger Day’ which made all of my taste-buds come to life remembering the amazing burger I had at the restaurant Bills this weekend. I chose the vegetarian option of halloumi, hummus and salad in a toasted bun with sweet potato fries on the side and it was delicious to say the least!
Not only was the food top notch and the whole table deciding to dig into my chips, i loved the setting in which we were in.
The interiors of the Bills restaurants is very unique in their field. The industrial poles and pipes mixed with shabby, wooden seats and floorboards really contrasts with the grandeur of the elegant chandeliers in the room. The whole feel of the place is very laid back yet a slightly more formal occasion which i think is mimicked very cleverly in the type of interiors the restaurant is trying to portray.
The little touches such as the shining candelabra’s combined with dried chillies draped across the distressed brick walls made the place feel authentic and not at all part of a chain.
Thank you national burger day for triggering not only my memory but also my very empty tummy!
Even though my trip to Marrakech was nearly 2 years ago now, I still insist on having one of my favourite photos that I took their as my wallpaper on my phone. (banner photo)
A friend and I visited ‘Jardin Majorelle’ in the heart of Marrakech. It felt like an enchanting paradise and an escape from all of the hustle of the city.
From sky scraping cacti to delicate pools of lily’s, the garden was a vision of tropical excitement. My friend and I hardly spoke to talk we were so memorised! As a design student with a particular interest in print for fashion and interiors, this was fabulous for theme development going into my studying at university. As florals and tropics are constantly re-entering the world of design, somewhere like this is great to source some primary research.
Along with the beautiful and vibrant colours of the nature, the buildings in the gardens fascinated us just the same. Electric blues covered the walls of the art deco style buildings creating an even more lustrous experience for a visitor.
I highly recommend if visiting Marrakech, to go here – it was the best part of my trip and it was very cheap! I think I could have lost myself in there for a whole day – just mind the heat!
PRINTOPIA 
