New Designers 2013

Yesterday afternoon I popped into the preview of New Designers, the annual exhibition in London showcasing emerging design talent. 

3,000 new graduates are selected to appear and share their wares with the public during the two-week period the show runs. It happens in two parts, and Part Two is the one I was interested to see, as it has a big interiors and illustration focus. It runs until 5 July at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Here are the designs that caught my eye.

Clever, adaptable shelving / storage system designed by Loughborough University graduate, Helen Robson, who specialises in sustainable design. 

Desk tidying stuff. Lovely. And yellow! These "friendly everyday objects" are designed by Clea Jentsch.

The products also come in green, and the pencil sharpener, above, is particularly pleasing.

Concrete and wood desk lamps, with a flash of electric blue wiring, by
Matthew Parrish.

The cleverest ideas are often the most simple. This is a beautifully made magnifying glass that props up on a shelf or mantlepiece, to magnify your favourite little objects. It's designed by Zak Stratfold. Love it.

These colourful drawings of the artist's hometown, Cambridge, are cheerful and endearing. That artist is  freelance illustrator and surface pattern designer Crista Wright. Her buildings drawings (she does lots of other styles too) remind me a bit of the beautiful Lydia Stanwix postcards of St Ives I featured a while back.

I loved product designer Henry Franks' sense of humour. These brass beauties above come with a little label telling you their name (Gordon).

This stress-busting desk ornament (if you like) also comes with a some explanatory notes: "Gordon is the personification of the English idiom 'gets my goat'. The saying originated because people with race horses used to keep a goat coralled with their horses to keep them calm. The horses would get agitated if someone took the goat away, so if someone 'gets your goat' you are left agitated. Don't worry, because Gordon is outrageously heavy so no one can 'get your goat'. So whilst at your desk, he will keep you calm, productive and happy." Brilliant.

Henry also designed this, which he calls Bog Standard. It came about as part of a project to see how humour could improve everyday objects. Loo roll positioning is a hot topic in my house right now.