There seems to be a growing interest in hauntology, a term coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the early 90s. Its current meaning is best described as the intangible effect of a thing or feeling, generated by the emotional influence of the past, on what is being created in the present. At the moment, I’m noticing it most in music, in fact The Wire magazine recently hosted ‘Revenant Forms: the Meaning of Hauntology’, a salon of experimental music and ideas around the subject..

When I was at college we studied Derrida, which led me towards trying out his deconstruction theory in textiles. I experimented with the construction of a repeat pattern by taking it apart and putting it back together again and also played with Cyanotype – a technique of transferring large-scale photographic images onto fabric.

But aside from Derrida, hauntology links with a noticeable and growing trend; the longing for things that remind us of the past. It’s been manifesting itself as a gradual fondness for retro–feeling interiors and products and the popularity of vintage-inspired, shabby chic interiors; second-hand clothes that have a ‘story’ behind them, the phrase ‘loveworn’ increasingly being used in fashion journalism; comfort food and classic British favourites finding their way onto menus in expensive restaurants; ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ posters.

But it’s not necessarily just about flowers, chintz and bunting. You can detect it in Jacques Wirtz’s work who I mentioned in the post about Milan. Architect David Chipperfield’s Neues Museum in Berlin beautifully marries the past with the contemporary, one informing the other to create a brand new kind of experience.

David Chipperfiled Neues Museum

And last year Muji teamed up with Thonet and Konstantin Grcic to reinterpret Thonet’s famous curved wood chairs – the original design of which was first created 150 years ago.

Thonet Muji chair

Once you’re aware of hauntology it makes absolute sense, and you can’t escape it!

Posted in trends

I stumbled across this website and it literally brightened up my day! It’s called the Let’s Colour Project.  Initiated by Dulux but powered by the people, it combines photos and films of people taking it upon themselves to tart up dreary walls and neglected buildings, as well as pictures of anything bright and cheerful that has been spotted around world. Here are two of my favourites from the Let’s Colour blog:

The vibrant colours of the Jodhpur old city markets in India.

Colourful calico drop sheet art

Posted in colour, trends

I quite often talk to students and the digital versus conventional debate frequently comes up, mainly because a lot of the textiles courses seem to teach through computer-based design origination rather than learning the craft of repeat construction. Many students haven’t grasped the fundamental elements of repeats and screen separations (it may look easy but it does take a lot of experience and is time consuming) making it very hard for them to pursue designs for commercial production. It seems that there needs to be a revival in teaching traditional printing processes (with the added enlightenment of CAD and digital prints). There was something good about using the photocopier and playing around with collage; something that I don’t see so much in students’ work because they seem to be very much focused on the final digital A3 paper print-out, which tends to look flat and uninspiring. Honing your fine art and craft skills does lead to a more interesting result.

So how can we get from here to what we can see at Premiere Vision with designers such as Claudia Caviezel (see Claudia’s wonderful interview on Faces of Design and her website) using digital in an exciting and stimulating way?

Spring 2009 Collection of AKRIS designed for Jakob Schlaepfer by Claudia Caviezel

Perhaps the answer is to introduce drawing, collage, lino cutting, wax relief printing, mono printing and many others handmade skills to try and turn the young students’ heads away from their computers. Maybe even ban them in the first year! It may sound harsh but it could work, after all, in my first year at Camberwell we had to work solely in black and white from painting to printing!

Posted in design, fashion, pattern, printing, technology, textiles, trends

This summer, prints seem to have been very influenced by digital printing technology, with lots of examples which appeared in the catwalk shows now making their way onto the rails; Prada, the late Alexander McQueen and Matthew Williamson to name a few.

PRADA Summer 2010

Because of its flexibility and beauty of placement printing we will continue to see digital printing used commercially in fashion. Designers are willing to pay the price for the more expensive digital fabric but these are coming down and it is considerably cheaper than it was even 2 years ago.

I saw a lot more companies (mainly Italian) at Premiere Vision offering digital as well as conventional printed fabrics. The perfect product for this technique is the scarf. Sadly it’s often too expensive for small-scale designers to get involved in creating scarves as the quantities required to make the numbers work are too big, and unless you are a skilled printer they are very time consuming to produce oneself. I know because I have tried and although I was able to sell at great shops such as Paul Smith, Joseph and Bergdorf Goodman ultimately I couldn’t compete with the lower prices that manufacturers were getting from China. But as I said digital printing is becoming more affordable so look out for it on more scarves whether in Liberty or coming to a high street near you.

Posted in fashion, pattern, printing, technology, textiles, trends

What I love about going to Premier Vision is that not only is it a great opportunity to peer ahead, check out trends and see cutting edge technologies that are the results of years of R&D but you get to pick up stuff (literally and mentally) that you might not normally find or have easy access to. Here’s a good example, it’s a beautifully produced colour journal called ‘Le fil du lin & du chanvre’ which gives an overview of how linen and hemp are being used across the board in design.

Le fil du lin & du chanvre, n°03

I also found ‘Geometric’, a brilliant book by Kapitza – a design studio up the road from here set up by 2 sisters. It’s great fun, loaded with 100 pattern fonts (shapes based on the forms of letters in the alphabet) and something I’m definitely looking forward to playing with. Some of the patterns reminded me of the Dutch artist and designer Karel Martens who is a favourite of mine. You can buy the book from the Kapitza online shop:

One last notable mention from Premier Vision: Jakob Schlaepfer’s brand new, awe-inspiring fabric ‘Secret Garden’, a shimmering silver gossamer with iridescent inks printed onto it. It’s one of those fabrics that photographs really don’t do justice to, you have to see it up close and feel it yourself. So, lucky me! Look out for this in the coming years time in clothing and interiors.

Posted in books, design, graphic design, pattern, review, technology, trends

Premiere Vision Feb 2010

Colours

As always there was an abundance of poetical verse to describe the trends and colours for S/S 2011 at PV and Indigo this week ‘colourful jellies’ ‘satirical pastels’, ‘languorous tone on tones’, ‘ limpid sea waters’, ‘ fresh skin tones’, ‘brilliant monochromes’ ‘mysterious abyss’ and ‘synthetic lights’ to mention but a few!

For me this year the colours that tooted my bells were a small selection in contrast with the huge palette available on the fashion agenda. I will try and match some to pantone references and some to our wallpapers, some may vary from the actual as I’m matching them with own ‘my’ eye chart!

Blues and greens fitted into the Aquatic and Limpid seawater themes ranging from the stronger turquoise to pale transient blues.

Turquoise

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Leaf Turquoise Gold

Pantone 15-4715 to a darker Pantone 16-5123

Soft paler blues

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Treetops Sky Blue

Pantone 14-4307 and very pale Pantone 12-4304

I would also include in the blue theme the strong trend for blue ink tones and washes starting from ink black / navy to very pale light blue. ‘Luminous darkness’ included Navy, khakis and pale aquas.

There were a lot of greens, khakis, dark greens, brights to pastel creamy greens. Pantone 17-0525, 15-0522, 14-6316

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper Cascade, Willow

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Leaf Green Gloss

A riot of oranges, reds and pinks from luminous pastel orange Pantone 12-0714, 12-1009,to dusty pinks 13-1409 12-1305

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Blossom Soft Rose

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Flora Blush

Mix pale violets with the orange violet 13-3803, 15-1905 with the orange tones 14-1311, 13-1019 and khaki with this orange

Putty tones

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Fern Putty

Raspberry reds, mulberry deep pinks .

Skin tones to camel and fauna Pantone 12-1005, 14-1210, 13-1013 , 15-1308, 15-1309.

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Fern Mouse

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Fern Chalk

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Cascade Sand

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Cascade Linen

Bronzed browns to muted gold’s

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Blossom Renaissance Gold

Mysterious abyss – Very dark mat grounds juxtaposed with shiny gloss inks , dark browns with black, black on black

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Kew Black Gloss

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Leaf Black Gloss

Jocelyn Warner Wallpaper, Leaf Black Gold

There was also a very bright theme ‘Aspirin ‘ think polka dots, Op Art Damien Hurst dots, very, very bright brightest, orange, greens, pinks, blue.

Print themes saw again a strong nature theme of  ‘floral opulence’.

In the theme ‘Today’s Yesteryear’ fabrics had a soft feel to them ‘tenderly washed’, pictorial silks with sandstone finishes, nostalgic influence. 1950’s screen-printed fabrics with a hand painterly feel, textured brush strokes and ink washes, ink jet prints with magnified water marks, a break away from the exactness of photographic prints.

Artificial nature – a ‘wonderland’ of fauna, dragonflies, grasshoppers, water lilies.

Another print theme was the very light, transparency skeletal fragile forms plants, birds, insects – fine line drawings, mono prints, semi transparent architectural scenes / structures. Exact drawn pencil lines mixed with haphazardly ink.

Tropical theme included parrots and birds, exotic flowers magnified and scaled with fruits and lush jungle looking leaves. Think Henri Rousseau and his treatment of leaves, oil pastels, paint and collage.

Indigo seems to see an increasing amount of textile designers offering vintage collections, antique, contemporary swatches, clothes and accessories mixed with the current fashion trends. Some of the prints and dresses are quite stunning, items that you would not be able to get from your local jumble or charity shop. I can see the attraction as the trend for nostalgia and the ‘yesteryear’ is so strong.

Posted in botanical, colour, interior design, pattern, trends, wallpaper

I’m really looking forward to going to Premiere Vision Spring Summer 2011 show next week, this is the colour and textile forecasting show held in Paris twice a year. I have been going now for around 20 years; I find it very useful for colour development work, seeing the technical advancements that are happening in digital printing, weaving and machine printing. Sadly the famous trend forecaster Li Eldekoort doesn’t have any involvement with the audio visuals, a shame as they were very inspiring, she is really one of my favorites (see Sept Blog), you can still buy Bloom magazine at the newsagents but her View on Colour and INview are no longer in publication, luckily you can still buy back issues.

Indigo is on at the same venue; where you can buy designs directly from textile designers for the following season AW 11/12.

I’m constantly looking “out there ” for colour inspiration, on my early morning jogs (um… have only just started this so don’t hold your breath!) I have been watching some wonderful colour spreads. Not brilliantly in focus as snapped with my iphone whilst listening to my inspiring jogging music!

I really love the blues; lilacs mauves with the peaches and soft pastel yellows, there are an infinitesimal amount of colourways that you can work from using nature – its mouth watering!

Colour working Primrose Hill

Colour Work London Eye

Colour Work London Sky

Posted in colour, design, technology, textiles, trends

Huma Quresh’s recent review of the last decade of interior design really struck a chord with me. She says “Our noughties homes were characterised by comfort, colour, thrift and green living… interiors styles have grown more individual and less prescriptive…. back came colour and patterned wallpaper, and in came the feature wall, with everything from heavy damasks to florals and designer prints.” I couldn’t agree more.

Entering a brand new decade with continuing economic uncertainty, not to mention heading towards a general election, I believe that we’ll continue with more of the same, at least for a while. We’ll see even more patterns, prints and objects which, whether hand-made or using the latest technologies of mass production will at least look hand-made, old-fashioned and lo-fi with brush strokes visible and full or little quirks and smudges.

It’s part of the ever popular boho, shabby chic look that’s sweeping much of the Western world’s homes, cafes, bars and hotels: genuinely second-hand furniture and little junk-shop finds, mixed (but and deliberately not matched) with new hand-made pieces and some artfully distressed items to create an eclectic, unstructured and individual space. Places like Story Deli near our studio, or Annie Morris and Idris Khan’s home currently featured in Vogue that have an informal, unfinished  - often because, purposely or otherwise, they really aren’t finished – feel. The desire for putting a stamp of personality and individuality in our homes, including as we have found by using wallpaper, offers people a less expensive way to add a new dimension to the home that makes it feel more like theirs.

Posted in interior design, trends, vintage

For a while, I’ve been pondering the renewal in interest of hand-made, artisan goods. It’s a trend that has filtered down into everyday life, including food. But reading recently that Hermés is continuing to thrive during these economically challenging times, and Goyard just opening a store in London, again made me wonder about issues of craft, quality and desirability at the top end of the market.

In the mind of the consumer, genuinely luxurious goods are increasingly perceived as such through the knowledge they have been carefully hand-crafted, with a great deal of time and dedication by only a small number of individuals and in limited quantities. With this process comes an inherent one-offness, a quirk, difference or personalisation that the next piece from the same workshop won’t have. And it’s this resulting combination of uniqueness and subtlety is what distinguishes them as ‘luxe’.

The hospitality business and network Rough Luxe sums up the current mood and goes a step further; “Rough Luxe… is a new way of looking at luxury as part of time and not just as an object of consumption. Luxury should be an enriching personal experience and not simply the ownership or utilisation of an expensive object.”

THE ROUGH LUXE HOTEL LONDON

In my own industry there are a number of companies that are offering hand-painted papers and interior products. Others are re-creating the hand-made feel using machine and digital prints. It’s great that new technologies mean that quality and beauty are more widely available but there is an enduring respect and desire for craft.

Posted in craft, design, handmade, interior design, trends, vintage, wallpaper

It’s not just part of my job, I’m fascinated by colours and what they might mean so I was especially intrigued by a story in this morning’s Times reporting some research conducted by Sandtex, the paint manufacturers. According to the survey ‘people with blue houses are more successful than those living in homes of any other colour’. In this case, ‘successful’ is denoted by salary, job title at work, number of holidays taken and help employed around the home. If you live in a green house, you’re the bottom of the pile. One of my favourite colours is pink which, apparently, puts me in the second to lowest position. Oh dear!

Here’s the article.

Posted in architecture, colour, interior design, trends

I feel that when larger companies link up with artists and designers it becomes more about PR opportunities and boosting sales. Whether Debenhams or Topshop, Habitat or John Lewis, they’re all doing it. A few years ago when Graham & Brown undertook a project in conjunction with the Royal College of Art the results were really interesting and, I think, improved Graham and Brown’s status but I can’t help wondering whether it became yet another case of a marketing team jumping at the chance to use the word ‘designer’ and up the perception of creativity.

Of course, ‘designer’ ranges and products are so popular that they aren’t going to go away. But, there is a danger that we may suffer a designer overdose, especially in the case of particular names.

It seems that the same handful of designers, people like Marcel Wanders, Patricia Urquoia and Hella Jongerius are producing a wide range of products for the same four or five companies. It’s completely understandable for manufacturers to stick to these names as they’re a safe bet and will sell well but there is a downside – the resulting feeling of familiarity and homogeneity. The upside is that it becomes even easier for individuals and smaller companies to really stand out.

Posted in design, fashion, interior design, product design, trends

I’m experimenting with shiny finishes, grainy metallics but instead of bling, I’m looking at how they exist alongside more muted colours such as dark grey, pinks, beige and camel. Have a look.

But, returning to bling for a moment..

Can you imaging landing on Earth from space, or being fast-forwarded from say Victorian times and seeing this? Aside from whether you would actually buy it, the affect is certainly dramatic, a Benz whizzed past me in Camden Town, I did a double take… was it mirrored or glass? I looked it up and found that there are loads of them!

Have a look on YouTube

Posted in botanical, design, pattern, product design, technology, trends, wallpaper

“Beyond the crisis, we can see a real desire for creativity. People want a new modernity that is yet to be invented.” Jean-Philippe Nuel, interviewed at Maison & Objet 2008

As the world economy fluctuates, consumer behaviour and design trends point towards a new aesthetic, I’m trying to work out what’s next. In doing so, I began to reflect on the past. On the cusp of our tenth anniversary it struck me how the last decade has been so big for pattern. Every big name designer has embraced pattern especially after the 80’s-90’s which was dominated by white or black minimalism. Wallpaper was the first product that pushed pattern back into headlines –large retro prints became cool – large scale oversized prints digitally made or hand drawn were all put into repeats with the aid of our now taken for granted computers. Marry that with digital photography and printers and we went print crazy!

People then became more and more adventurous with pattern and colour (I’m trying to avoid name-checking Lawrence you-know-who-you-are) but in some walks of life maybe they are still tentative. I think part of my job as a designer is to encourage confidence etc. In the same way that some people are uncomfortable wearing bright colours or patterns but once they try them, they realise that they can be more fun, suit them better, I’m looking forward to another ten years of creating products that enable people to express their individuality, personality.

Posted in botanical, pattern, printing, technology, trends, wallpaper