It’s hard to believe that, were he still alive today, visionary designer Marcel Breuer would be celebrating his 123rd Birthday. Born in Hungary in 1902, he went on to become a professor at the infamous Bahaus school of design in Germany and throughout this period produced a number of iconic designs such as his infamous tubular steel ‘Wassily’ and ‘Model B32’ Chairs.
Not only did such pieces have a major influence on Heal’s own collections, most notably the ‘Economy with a Difference’ range launched in 1933, but were also stocked within the showrooms of Tottenham Court Road.
Working for modern British furniture makers Isokon, whose creative director just happened to be former head of the Bauhaus Walter Gropius, in 1935 Breuer produced his stunning ‘Long Chair’ with Heal’s one of the first stores in the world to stock this classic design.
The Cesca Side Chair
As well as his instinctive aptitude for furniture, at the peak of 20th century Modernism following the Second World War Breuer was one of the worlds most influential and in-demand architects. Designing up until his passing in 1981, buildings include the Unesco Headquarters in Paris (1958) and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (1966), both now considered masterpieces of the modern era.
So the next time you sit back in a contemporary styled tubular chair, take a moment to raise your glass to Mr. Breuer, a true pioneer of the modern home.
[ INSPIRATION ]
Behind the design
Inspired by mid-century textiles and British vernacular art, Rosie Moss has created a series of Limited Edition cushions exclusively for Heal’s. We chat to her about her inspirations and design process.
What is the inspiration behind the cushion designs?
For the exclusives, I was asked to design a collection with a nautical theme and I was excited by the idea of creating a sense of narrative that ran through each of the patterns – so that they could be special one-off pieces, but also work well as a complete set. Even though I live the furthest away from the sea as you can get in the UK, my family has a long history with the Merchant Navy. I used my Grandad’s old ship-in-a-bottle as a starting point.
I often look to British vernacular arts and crafts and like to celebrate the simplistic forms found in folk objects representative of home. I delight in the humanistic qualities of these objects, which I believe are often over-looked. I am particularly interested in utilitarian objects that have been transformed by adorning motifs or patterns; the patterns for me are the most interesting, as they are often applied to demonstrate the love and pride of the maker or to tell a story.
Tell us about your design process, how do you get started?
As well as print in textiles, all aspects of printmaking heavily influence me and I use techniques such as lino printing as part of the drawing process. Even at the initial drawing stage I like to think about how a design can be translated onto silk-screen and I often paint onto trace with Indian ink to experiment with textures and layering.
I do very little editing on the computer as I try to retain some of the imperfections of the drawings. Sometimes the tracing paper designs are used directly as positives for the screen stencils; keeping the steps between drawing and the final print to a minimum helps me to feel more of a connection to the fabric.
Everyone has a personal reaction to colour, are there any you instinctively avoid?
I think everyone has colours that they instinctively turn to time and time again. For me, it’s blues, deep navy and greys. I tend to wear a lot of these colours too. I like to introduce little pops of colour every now and then, perhaps as a colourful zip or straps for the bags that I make. This is when the tiny part of me that enjoys experimenting with colour, escapes. I don’t think there is any colour I dislike.
How did you get involved with the Limited Edition series at Heal’s?
Caroline Dulko, the soft furnishings buyer, contacted me while I was exhibiting at New Designers- ‘One Year On’. She had already been following me on Instagram and we arranged a meeting on the top floor of the Tottenham Court Road store.
I remember being very nervous as collaborating with Heal’s is something that I have wanted to do for a long time – so many of my favourite designers have come through Heal’s and it’s an honour to be following in their footsteps.
Tell us about the first textile you designed.
I visited the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery with my school art class – they have a substantial collection of William De Morgan pottery there and for my coursework I created a large painted textile piece based on his tile designs. Interestingly, an old sketchbook that accompanied it recently resurfaced.
Taped to one of the pages was a replica tile that I must have bought from the museum gift shop of some painterly De Morgan hares. I couldn’t believe the similarity between the tile and my own Hare pattern. It now sits on my studio shelf as a reminder that we are all drawn to particular images, and sometimes they can stick in your mind and influence you years later!
Do you have a design hero that influences your work?
I particularly admire the work of Enid Marx. She was an early advocate for the revival and appreciation of British Folk Art and wonderful designer in her own right. She refused to pigeonhole herself too and worked across textiles, wallpaper, ceramics and book illustration.
I also love a lot of mid-century Scandinavian designers such as Marimekko and Stig Lindberg. I like the playfulness of these designers and the way that they often created prints and surface patterns that were never solely for adults, or just for children – but could be equally enjoyed by both.
Do you have any studio superstitions / design quirks?
I can’t say I’m particularly superstitious, but my studio is in a very old factory building and is also home to a mouse! I think he may live in the walls and he only comes out at night. When I see him, I take it as a sign that I am working a little too hard and I should probably go home. He has been quite well behaved…so far.
What 3 words would you use to describe your Limited Edition collection for Heal’s?
Illustrative, decorative, narrative.
Rosie Moss cushions are available as a limited edition run of 24 online and in store at Heal’s.
Working with arrangements of colour, pattern and shape, Gemma Kay Waggett creates hand-sewn, machine embroidered and screen-printed textiles. Gemma has designed a collection of luxury cushions for our Limited Edition series available in store and online.
What is the inspiration behind the cushion designs?
The patterns on these cushions are derived from a 1986 (the year Gemma was born) educational stamp set of Geometric shapes that I got given for Christmas last year and has proved to be a fantastic tool for exploring pattern.
For my Royal College of Art graduate collection ‘Beyond Woven’ the stamps were the starting point for every design… I tessellated and merged the individual block shapes to create mock woven visuals that were later translated into digital embroidery and print.
Tell us about your design process?
Whatever the weather I spend my days collecting visual inspiration – colours, surfaces and objects. When I am starting a new project I usually go out and about for a day or two to gather ideas and then hibernate in the studio to process via drawing, painting and collage.
I spend a lot of time looking at and collecting different materials to use as bases for my screen-printed or embroidered outcomes, cotton is my favourite fabric and so I always try to find as many different varieties of this as possible.
The base fabric for the Over and Expand cushion I have used one of my favourite fabrics which is a double sided denim – I have bought an extra 5 metres of it for ‘the cupboard’.
Everyone has a personal reaction to colour, are there any you instinctively avoid?
There aren’t any colours I avoid but there is definitely a colour that I am most drawn to and that is navy. In December 2011 I started a pop up shop lifestyle brand called Nothing but Navy – where everything is navy blue – it is my favourite colour and I think it is timeless, ageless and genderless.
When shopping I am always the person who asks ‘does this come in navy’ and have a long list of staple items that I regularly choose in navy over any other colour…Although this collection is composed of varying shades of blue and navy is my favourite colour to wear I very much enjoy using colour in my work.
How did you get involved with the Limited Edition series at Heal’s?
Caroline Dulko (Buyer at Heal’s) and I actually did our BA HONS together in Textile Design at Central Saint Martins from 2006-2009 – I came into Heal’s HQ to show her my work after I graduated from the RCA and she told me about the series and it all went from there.
Tell us about the first textile you designed?
I have been sewing since I was a child but at my secondary school in Design and Technology – Textiles I first learnt how to use a sewing machine and about different types of fabric and textile techniques…. for my very first project at the school I made a bright purple flower shaped cushion with appliqued felt cut out people on it – I think it took me a whole term to make!
Do you have a design hero that influences your work?
Arguably an artist rather than a designer I absolutely love the work of Gary Hume. I am captivated by the way that he uses textures, colours and shape and hope that one day I will look at a piece of his work on the wall of my house.
Do you have any studio superstitions / design quirks?
Not especially but I never turn the light box off (for exposing screens) until I’ve checked the screen I’ve just exposed is okay – just incase!
What 3 words would you use to describe your Limited edition collection for Heal’s?
I think that this collection is NAVY / GRAPHIC / FUN Gemma Kay Waggett's cushions are available as a limited edition of 25, online and in store.
French-born Claire de Quénetain, an MA in Printed Textiles, is known for her expression of marks and form through paintings and drawings. Claire’s new design for Heal’s 1810, Le Jardin D’ete, depicts a hand-drawn floral pattern reflecting the artist’s personal passion for the outdoors. We caught up with Claire to discuss who collection and design process.
What is the inspiration behind your work?
The main inspiration behind my work is to catch the atmosphere of gardens, the generosity, the forms, the colours and movement in nature. My textiles aim to create a natural, lively and colourful environment for the interiors.
This was the concept behind the collection for Heal’s. The designs are colourful, fresh, energetic, and full of movement. But also to make a collection with a certain summer vibe to it.
Tell us about your design process, how do you get started?
I regularly enjoy to visit gardens, where I photograph a lot. It’s quite important for me to work from photographs. They speak to me and helps me to remember places I have visited. Sometimes I go outside to draw it allows me to understand the shapes and colours of the natural life in a better way. This process creates a starting point and a mood which enables me to start painting.
Do you have a preferred material or process?
I enjoy a lot painting straight onto fabric or paper without composing the design in advance. I like to paint compositions in large scale with spontaneity to catch a certain energy and new marks.
How did you get involved with Heal’s?
I was lucky to get contacted by Heal’s after my MA graduation show at the Royal College of Art. It was the aim of my Master’s to bring a sense nature into people’s homes. By collaborating with Heal’s this now becomes reality.
Do you have a design hero that influences your work?
I mostly admire the work of classic modern artists such as Picasso and Raoul Dufy. Examples of good design for me is Collier Campbell and Marimekko. What 3 words describe your range at Heal’s? Happy, fresh and colourful.
Claire de Quenetain’s exclusive collection is available online and in store at Heal’s.
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We spoke to our latest Limited Edition contemporary cushion designer, Laura Slater, about her new collection at Heal's.
What is the inspiration behind the cushion designs?
The limited edition prints I have produced for Heal's are a development of my signature collection ‘Assemble/Configure’ The print collection explores found shape, texture and pattern observed from the environments around me, whether architectural, industrial or natural.
This print collection has been developed through taking a range of patterned, drawn and printed components and developing their configuration and colour directly onto cloth. I loved the idea of creating a random, really abstract design that really reflects my drawing style and processes.
Tell us about your design process, how do you get started?
My process always starts with observation, drawing, and mark making. I am constantly collecting surfaces, prints, pattern or inspiration that may influence my design concept. I tend to find a visual theme or concept emerges instinctively. I use this then to shape any further pattern or process development.
My designs often develop through photocopying, re-scaling, over drawing, and layering. Once some key designs start to work, I will start to translate onto silk-screen, and work directly onto cloth with colour and composition. During this process I start to consider how my designs could be applied, starting to engineer them towards product.
Everyone has a personal reaction to colour, are there any you instinctively avoid?
Researching and exploring colour is a big part of my process. I keep colour journals and explore colour ways directly onto cloth, considering colour proportion and balance. I do tend to have a natural hand, which is fairly autumnal.
It was something I identified once I started studying textiles. I aim to work hard to develop my approach to colour by trying not to levitate back to my natural hand, but to keep things considered, fresh and directional.
How did you get involved with the Limited Edition series at Heal’s?
Interestingly I was contacted by Heal's, from them seeing my work through social media, Instagram and Pinterest, which I found really interesting. As soon as they told me about the project I was so keen to be involved, not only for Heal's historical endorsement of great British design, but because as I printmaker I loved their approach to the limited and bespoke prints on textiles.
Tell us about the first textile you designed
The first textiles I designed were actually as a child, making hundreds and hundreds of pom poms. Coming from Yorkshire, knitting and visiting wool mills was a big part of my childhood and I remember the almost meditative process of winding the wool and picking colour and the unexpected and accidental patterns that came through from layering and striping. Not that different from my design process now actually!
Do you have a design hero that influences your work?
I tend to look at a range of sources for inspiration, the Bauhaus artists, Lazlo Moholy Nagy, architecture (I’m into concrete and Brutalism), the landscape, and the St Ives artists. I love Scandinavian Design and look at a lot of Illustrators, too.
Any designers keeping traditional printmaking part of their ethos inspire me. Artists that embraced textile design to develop their imagery also inspire me, Henry Moore textiles are incredible.
Do you have any studio superstitions / design quirks?
I’m not sure about superstitions or design quirks, but I suppose do have my studio ‘mascot’ who is my beautiful French Bulldog Sonny. He keeps me company and sane, when running around super busy. I’m sure people would laugh at how much I chat to him through the day!
What 3 words would you use to describe your Limited edition collection for Heal’s?
Directional, industrial, Graphic. Want to get your hands on one of Laura's luxury cushion designs? Head over to the Heal's site now.
Our last (but certainly not least) Heal’s Discovers 2014 finalist is Tom Parfitt. His future as a designer was clear from a young age – he’s come a long way from constructing toys from cardboard boxes…
After leaving school in 2005 Tom Parfitt started an apprenticeship in cabinet making at British furniture brand Benchmark, who manufacture the Heal's Cranborne range. Having worked there for five years, surrounded by the work of prominent designers such as Russell Pinch, Tomoko Azumi and Steuart Padwick, he decided to formally study furniture design.
During his degree in Furniture: Design & Make at Rycotewood in Oxford, which works in partnership with Bucks University as part of the National School of Furniture, Tom developed new design skills and explored methods of working. In his third year, Tom won a competition to design outdoor seating for one of the gardens of Queen’s College Oxford.
Going right in with a big question, how would you describe good design? What do you think it should achieve?
Good design is fit for purpose and at best enriches the environment around us. Good design almost takes on an energy and life of its own, with decisions feeling natural and justified. Pontification is the death nail of good design.
Good design exhibits clarity of thought and should be able to clearly communicate an idea, vision or ethos. To me, it should feel as if the design has landed from outer space, new from nowhere, timeless.
Which Heal's Designer – from any era - inspires you and why?
David Irwin. I am really inspired by the quality of his work, and by the refinement and level of detail he builds into each of his products. He manipulates different materials seemingly with ease and, above all, his work excites me. I believe he will go on to be one of Britain’s leading product designers.
Where in the world have you been inspired ?
Close to home I have been inspired by the city of Oxford, its architecture and heritage. Oxfordshire is a beautiful county and the city has a feel and energy that I tapped into when studying there.
I have been working very hard over the last eight years and would like to travel more in the coming years, Copenhagen, Milan and Tokyo would be on my list of destinations.
Finally, and this doesn’t have to be design related, what are your three favourite things, and why?
A good cup of tea. I am a man of simple pleasures and can’t imagine a world without tea; it comforts and brings people together in ritual. I can always rely on a cup of tea and it helps me to think.
Liverpool Football Club. Why would you support any other team?
Watching a good film. Films have the power to inspire, move and entertain, in a way perhaps no other medium can. In fact my dream job would be as a production designer
HEAL'S DISCOVERS
HEAL'S DISCOVERS
Ed Heritage
As part of this season’s Heal’s Discovers initiative, we’re delighted to introduce Ed Heritage, an award-winning UK-based designer whose signature style of clean geometry and playful details is reflected in the beautiful lamp he created.
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