Surface Design Awards – Complete

• INTERIOR SURFACE OF THE YEAR - NEW
  This is a new category that recognises wall, floor, ceiling and surface design products, including decorative, creative and inventive surfaces for the interior of buildings including both commercial and residential properties.

In todays society we are, and have been battling with the backlash of a Global pandemic that swooped in and shaped our lives completely out our control. We were ripped of joyful moments, mundane and unexciting in ordinary life seemed precious and longed for during lockdown. The motivation for this project comes from personal experience and observation, as my 87 year old gran was sitting in her hospital bed. She announced to me her desire to admire something other than four identical white walls, every minute of every day, she wished for something more. Something to engage her imagination and take her somewhere else even for a second. That's when I realised, we need personality within a space or else we lose a spark of imagination that can temporary transport a reality. I wanted to create narratives through surfaces design that you can lose yourself in, with a positive impact on mental health. I focused on a cohesive collection of gathered materials that I had sourced from scrap stores, charity shops and found objects. My design outcomes are in the format of majority printed and woven samples, however; I explore playful visualisations to showcase that there is no situation that with a little colour, won't make you smile. The designs are inclusive and diverse, there to encourage all ages and gender identities to be inspired and delighted by shape, colour and pattern. Throughout my energising palettes there are hidden conversational motifs that are there to add humour and storytelling in the form of black pen illustrations. 'Scattered Shapes' is about conversation starters, how can my artwork be interpreted by every individuals? I use layering, combination and composition to create bold pattern. The collection shows how things may appear scattered but they can also appear to be placed within a considered composition. Radiant. Upbeat. Positive. Design can create joyous reactions, allow a moment of peace within a rapidly changing society and all of this was inspired by opening my eyes and watching. Wassily Kandinsky believed that abstract work could inaugurate a line of communication directly from the artists interpretation to the viewers imagination. You just have to be exposed to something more than four white walls.

'Scattered Shapes' is a cohesive collection because the over all concept is about the reaction it provokes. This allowed me to experiment vastly with materials. I firstly focused on my woven application, I would visit the local scrap store where I can find things donated such as old bicycle wheels, ribbons, yarns, papers, straws and anything that I could slide into a weft and create a woven fabric. I made multiple three dimensional structures using hand manipulation techniques, they are uncontemporary woven but playful. I wanted to expand my product options and availability commercially, therefore, I went down the route of sublimation printing. This allowed of the most saturated colour, my artworks appear bold and rich. They express the right amount of emotion and intrigue. I was able to print onto all materials such as suede, velvet, cotton, satins and more transparent fabrics. To engage my audience even more I started to laser cut shapes into the designs, only to use these cut out parts as surface embellishments. I collected all sorts of beads and plastics that would have ended up in landfill and started to embroider them on top to create tactile surfaces while adding to the over all design. I was able to produce a vast amount of fabric samples and produce products such as cushions and wall paper. As I come from a very experimental background, I couldn't stop there. I went on to trial my hand at ceramics, I was able to use the printed fabric waste and combine them with polymer clay to create jewellery. As I continued my journey with all things surface material I wanted to recap on my own progress and illustrate a children's book, so that I could articulate my conceptual thoughts and simplify it so I can relate my message that colour makes people happy, to children. This was done by drawings that started on cardboard, paper and all things artistic. Over all, my project focuses on experimentation and how we can utilize the things we have around us, especially local to me, in Scotland. Tactility is important for me, as to engage a reaction from my audience I want them to look, feel and interpret their own stories. I believe throughout my explanation of my creative process, the important of playful design in our lives, the imagination that has transpired, the sad reality of this inspiration origin and yet the explosive nature of my chaotic collection, focused on the simple word joy, this all highlights why my project should be considered for a Surface Design Award.

I can give a explanation of my sustainability credentials, I am not able to provide a CO2 calculation at this moment in time, but with some help and guidance I would be more than happy to comply. As a designer of this generation it is important for me to always consider my options, be aware of the critical environmental impact this industry has and understand the global green house emissions.

Sublimation printing is considerably more economical and seen as less harmful, there are no harmful dyes, no need to fix the fabric, or wash with steam or water. I wanted to include printed samples within my collection because they are seen as a very resource hungry products; that's why I felt it was my responsibility to showcase the experiments and results.

SUBLIMATION PRINTING:
- I focused on sublimation printing because their is less over all waste compared to screen printing and substantially less water waste.
- The paper used is printed, before being heat pressed onto the fabric, the paper can then be recycled.
- I was able to cut my exact size of fabric before printing, therefore there are no fabric scraps produced in the process.
- Due to sourcing fabric from charity shops and second hand, this also helped me determined a colour palette quite quickly as I was working with what I could get my hands on. As my fabrics were all of different qualities, this allowed for some samples to be free flowing, more fragile and some more rigid and sturdy.

EMBROIDERY:
- I used the waste cut outs from laser cutting prints, to incorporate with beads I had collected, and create surface embellishment.
- By sourcing materials and interesting elements from my local scrap store I was always collecting unusual and unique beads/old jewellery, this also added to my narrative as these objects have their own history. I believe recycling, upcycling and re using is a beautiful way to add another tale.
- The embroidery was also a way to cover imperfections within the prints, rather than throw it away and redo it, it is enhancing the sample without creating another.
- Waste fabric sequins, I avoided all kind of plastic beading off the shelf and embraced what would have gone to land fill.

WEAVING :
- Weaving for me has always consisted of creating 3D surface structures that don't necessarily use conventional "yarns", I have experimented with bike wheels and foams I got second hand from the industry.
- My gran was a keen knitter so a lot of my wool was passed down through generations.
- I use my 24inch hand loom so there is little to no waste within this craft. If you are again, organised in this specialism, you can make sure to measure to what you need.
- Use the edges as trimmings.

PRODUCT :
- Use suppliers who are located in the UK.
- My project has been designed in Scotland, and outside of this there are products created from suppliers within the UK.
- Wrapping paper is recycled/recyclable.

WASTE PRODUCTS :
- Close relationship with the Glasgow Play Resource centre, where I can gather materials/fabrics on a budget.
- Using my own waste, to incorporate back into my process.
- I am always trying to innovate and I am currently creating my own paper range to experiment on with paint and different mediums. This paper will be experimented through old shredded waste products. Including money that was taken out of circulation, shredded and given to industry, I have managed to gather some for material experiments.

SUBLIMATION PRINTING:

- With the facilities available to me there was a limit to the scale of samples I could produce as I was able to use the table press which allowed for A3 samples and the calendaring rolls which, advance the scale, but also limit the fabric and paper waste as you can organise appropriately and run samples to exact size necessary.
- You must be utterly organised so that the heat press meets 180 degrees.

LASER CUTTING:
- I was forced to monitor the heat of the laser cutter, so as not to burn the edges of the fabric , but also allowing the laser to cut through fully.
- There is also all the digitising and development of files for any sort of computerised work.

WEAVING :
- Very time consuming process.
- Expensive.
- Mathematical.
- I also need all the equipment personally as I have no access to looms elsewhere.

DESIGN PROCESS :
It is normal within the design process to have a mental/creative block. Whenever I experienced this, I would go back to my sketchbook and grab a pen. As long as I was getting any ideas down on paper, whether they were relevant or not they would help spark some kind of idea. A skill I developed during my project was observation, which as a designer, I think is very important to understand your community and society. It is all about opening our eyes and appreciating what we can experience, then it is up to me to relay that information into joyous design outcomes.

In such a modern and virtual society, we often dismiss the importance of our senses as we are constantly interpreting feelings, situations, desires and discoveries through word choice. I want my collection to focus on what we can see and feel.