No river too deep, no mountain too high, for this week's In The Studio we're jet-setting to India to visit textile designers Safomasi at their New Delhi print house.
Ok, so we may not have flown half way around the world just for a cup of tea and a catch up but we did manage the next best thing by giving Sarah Fotheringham and Maninder Singh, the designer duo behind Safomasi a call.
Having just launched their colourful collection of illustrative home accessories at Heal's we wanted to learn more about the hand screen printed cushions and quilts as well as see a few snaps of the process in action.
Where did you both study?
We have quite different backgrounds. I studied illustration at the University of Brighton, whilst Maninder studied commercial cookery and business management in Melbourne. It works as we have different roles - I design and Maninder handles the business and production side of things.
“We’re inspired by our travels, so each collection tells the story of a journey to a different place.”
Tell us about the first piece you ever designed together?
‘Mithai’ was our first print, inspired by the huge variety of colours and shapes of Indian sweets seen on our travels around India. It started with felt tip drawings of sweets in my sketchbook that I scanned and arranged into a pattern before separating the colours for screen printing and hand tracing each layer.
The final design featured illustrations of 169 different sweets and was hand printed in 13 colours, simplified from 16. It was a mission! We paired this pattern with a simple candy stripe to make our first range of cushion covers and quilts.
Where is your studio based?
Our studio is in New Delhi, India. We’re on a small but busy street with carpenters and hardware stores either side, so it can get quite dusty and noisy. Thankfully we’re two floors above the chaos with floor to ceiling windows that look out onto a lovely park.
Do you have any studio superstitions?
In India when you purchase a new piece of equipment there is a tradition to do a ‘pooja’ - a ceremony to ‘bless’ the object in the hope that it will bring good luck and perform well. Whenever we get something like a new sewing machine in the studio our tailors will do a small pooja as a good omen!
What is the inspiration behind your designs?
We’re inspired by our travels, so each collection tells the story of a journey to a different place. So far collections have been inspired by journeys around India, Japan, and Salcombe in Devon.
Tell us about your design process, how do you get started?
First of all we decide on a place to theme the collection. If it’s somewhere we haven’t been before we’ll start by taking a trip there. Whilst travelling we’ll sketch, take photographs, and gather our thoughts about which elements best capture our experience of that place.
When we’re back we research some more and come up with concepts for prints, starting with rough sketches before developing them into the final designs on Photoshop and then eventually screens for screen printing. We aim to make products that people feel a connection to – so the scenes in the prints seem familiar to some and exotic to others.
“We aim to make products that people feel a connection to, so the scenes in the prints seem familiar to some and exotic to others.”
Do you have a preferred material or process?
We love hand screen printing. It takes time and skill as each colour is printed separately to slowly build up the design. Some of our designs are pretty complex too, with up to 13 colours, but it has such a beautiful quality and character that we feel you can’t achieve with something like digital printing. The first time we sample new designs is the most fun – mixing up the colours and seeing them come to life on a run of fabric.
How would you describe the collection?
Our collection at Heal’s takes pieces from our Salcombe collection, which evokes childhood holidays to the Devon town of the same name, and the Alleppey collection inspired by the lush landscape of Kerala, South India.
The prints in the Salcombe collection illustrate country walks along the estuary, families exploring rock pools at low tide and yachts racing around the harbour – nostalgic scenes that will probably be familiar to many British holidaymakers. The ‘Coconut Picker’s’ print from the Alleppey collection is more tropical – with a bold and bright palm tree pattern.
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[ INSPIRATION ]
Behind the design
This week we're taking a trip to the Sussex forest to talk shop with Ted Jefferis', the brains and brawn behind design studio TedWood.
While his quirky style of design goes against the grain, Ted is a big believer in traditional craftsmanship and the use of naturally sourced British solid woods. Having made a name for himself at last year's Clerkenwell Design Week, he has since worked with our partner UK woodland conservationists Grown in Britain and now launches his range of designer lighting at Heal's. The juxtaposition of contemporary silhouettes with hand crafted leather and oak make the HangUp range a perfect match for Heal's. To find out more about Ted's approach to their design we caught up with him and brand ambassador Humphrey the spaniel at his Sussex studio.
Tell us about the first piece you ever designed?
I have been designing since I could pick up a pencil, however, my first fully formed design was the TipToe bench. It’s a play on proportions with fine tapered legs that look too fragile to support the hardwood top let alone two or three people. The design was an exercise in structure and understanding the limits of materials, a concept that has gone on to become the backbone of my designs
When did you decide you wanted a career in design?
Once I left school I took a cabinet making course at Chichester Collage. I relished the chance to craft but I always knew that I also wanted to be a designer so I enrolled on a degree at Oxford Brookes studying Interior Architecture. This allowed me to refine my designing skills and realise the importance of the relationship between a building, its interior and the furniture within it.
Where is your studio?
It’s in a village called Bosham on the south coast. After the Second World War my great grandfather bought bit of oak woodland by the water and built himself a house and a workshop. The idea was to build boats and make stuff out of wood - clearly an inspired plan! So much so that three generations later I still spend as much time as possible at his work bench.
“The idea was to build boats and make stuff out of wood - clearly an inspired plan!”
Tell us about your design process, how do you get started?
It all starts with an idea, then I try to get it down on paper sometimes in my sketch book or whatever I can find. In fact, my best ideas usually come from the back of old envelopes! Normally I won’t come back to the idea for a while but when I do I will try and make a prototype.
Do you have a preferred material or process?
Wood is without a doubt my first material and is what I am trained in. However, I love the freedom of working with other materials like leather and brass. I think that because I don't know the conventional way of working with them it gives me more freedom.
Do you have a design hero that influences your work?
I think it has to be Charles and Ray Eames. It amazes me that they could move between furniture, architecture, film and whatever else they tried their hands at. I believe that moving between disciplines so elegantly shows complete control over design.
How would you describe your new lighting collection for Heal’s?
It is a marriage of my three favourite materials; leather, oak and brass. Each material has its own role that comes together through craftsmanship. Heal’s is our first stockist so it has been a steep learning curve for me but I always say the best way to learn is to get chucked in the deep end!
All images courtesy of Creative CoOp.
Further Reading:
www.tedjefferis.co.uk
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With the new season well and truly under way, we're shining a light on our brightest new designs for SS16.
We'll start by bringing something new to the table, specifically three functional designs to expand our table and desk lamp range. Both decorative and versatile, Owen, Crawford and Oakley provide practical and ambient light on a bedside table or a finishing touch on a bookshelf or console.
Pictured above (from left to right): Owen Table Lamp in clear £145 or smoke £165, Crawford Table Lamp in grey or white £175, and Oakley Table Lamp in white or black £195 Clock.
Marney Pendant in marble £245, Lantern Pendant in white £195, Rialto Grooved Pendant in grey £245, Lantern Pendant in marble £225, Marney Pendant in matt grey £245 and Rialto Grooved Pendant in white £245.
Handmade in the potteries of Stoke on Trent, Heal’s range of ceramic lights are made exclusively by Lyngard’s sixth generation ceramicists. These sculpturally shaped pendants come in a range of specialist finishes including marbled ceramic, a mix of matt tones and real platinum or gold interiors.
Halo Pendant range in copper, antique brass and matt black £95 shown with Squirrel Cage LED Bulb £32 and Elva LED Bulb £35. The warm glow of a traditional filament bulb is a feature of many of Heal’s best-selling lighting ranges. With its double-ring design, the Halo pendant is another answer to decorating with shade-less silhouettes and is available in black, copper, or a new antiqued brass finish that offers a softer look to ever-popular brass.
Grace Pendant range in amber, blue, pink, or smoke. Small £150 shown with Twisted Vintage Filament Bulb £16 and large £195 shown with Globe Filament Bulb £22.
Grace is a new range of coloured glass pendants for Heal’s own label launched in 2015, and designed to create unique clusters for any space. Quickly establishing themselves as a top-selling range following their launch, Heal’s have introduced a new large size in all colour ways; blue, amber, pink and smoke. Discover our whole range of modern pendant lighting on our online store today.
New Lighting
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We caught up with the guys from Maddison Graphic to see the finishing touches being made to their new series of limited soft accessories for Heal's.
Working from their studio in Norwich, this independent design studio specialise in modern graphic prints across a range of area from exhibitions to fashion. Having garnered heaps of praise from the design press, we were thrilled to have them on board for Heal's new series of limited edition designer tea towels and thought it only right to see the first run of prints in person.
Do you have any studio superstitions? No, we are tediously rational.
What is the inspiration behind your work?
We are a conventional graphic design studio, so our inspiration comes from our clients. Of course it’s inevitable that our portfolio has some character or style, but it is our intention that the work primarily serves the necessities of the brief. We like to approach self-initiated projects in the same way, the type of object and the expected use are at the forefront of our thinking.
Tell us about your design process, how do you get started?
First we think about the purpose of the design and begin to look at other examples of an object or publication that we think are successful. We are concerned with communicating an idea in as straightforward a way as possible and reducing clutter and noise while retaining warmth and play where appropriate.
Everyone has a personal reaction to colour, are there any you instinctively avoid?
Using colour is difficult and subtle and it is easy to make something ugly and blame the colour, but it is all about context.
Do you have a preferred material or process?
Our work is almost always printed, so we try to use the most appropriate technology and material for each project. We consider the choice of material and process as important an aspect of our work as the design itself.
How would you describe your new design for Heal’s?
We wanted to produce an object that was useful attractive and would be something that we might buy ourselves. Although the design is quite bold, the use of natural linen and a monochrome palette create a pleasing and harmonious object.
Wellbeing: Hoarding design on the theme of well-being for a hospital development in Cambridge.
Print All Over Me: sweatshirt design for Print All Over Me, an online retailer that works with artists and designers.
Architectural Alphabet: typographic print inspired by iconic buildings and architectural motifs.
Further Reading:
www.maddisongraphic.com
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The latest additions to our Brunel range have arrived, and to mark the occasion we're going back to where it all began with an exclusive look behind Rob Scarlett's best-selling design.
While design is an ever-evolving process, certain pieces really strike a chord that resonates with contemporary interiors. A perfect example of this is the Brunel range by Rob Scarlett, its blend of mid-century inspiration and contemporary industrial feel suited to modern homes where there is a demand for stylish, well made furniture that is both functional and affordable.
Drawing inspiration from an original 1950s piece of storage by British icons Robin Day and Clive Latimer, Scarlett sought to incorporate not only the leaning design but also the industrial look of black tubular metal. This series of original sketches shows the development of a few key pieces from the Brunel range from the initial concept through to the finished article, all of which still feature in our current collections.
See the collection
Pictured above: Brunel Armchair and Sofa shown with Jamakhan Cushion, Zox Blue Throw, Brunel Stool, Crawford Table Lamp in white, Brunel Freestanding Shelving, Moroccan Glassware, and Bristol Table Lamp in white marble.
Early designs for the Brunel Table included fold out panels of oak and a hidden runner system to increase the width. Notice also how the three pronged legs were simplified to create the ranges trademark continuous line of tubular black metal.
Brunel Dining Table shown with Stool and Cushion, Lean To Shelves, Bench and Lantern Pendant in white.
Inspired by a leaning storage unit by Robin Day and Clive Latimer, this rough sketch of the Brunel Lean Mirror is almost identical to the finished design complete with bent metal frame, hanging rail and concealed storage compartment.
Brunel Bed Oak Headboard shown with Blanket Box, Lean-To Side Table, Owen Table Lamp in smoke and Brunel Lean Mirror.
While the shape and style are all there, this design for the Brunel Bed really came to life in the hands of Heal's furniture craftsmen who replaced the block corners with smooth joinery and extended the headboard to create a statement feature.
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No stranger to Heal's, we've been big fans of London Terrariums’ ever since they first hosted their workshops at our Tottenham Court Road store.
Since then this small botanical business has gone from strength to strength with a string of magazine features, window displays and even a talk at Nicer Tuesdays hosted by uber trendy design journal It's Nice That.
So what does the future hold for London Terrariums? To find out, we took a trip to sunny South London to talk demijohns, Fittonias and moss (oh so much moss) with the lovely Emma and Thom.
How did London Terrariums all begin?
We started London Terrariums about 3 years ago one Saturday afternoon just using what we could find in the local area; stones and moss from my front garden and cuttings from our own house plants.
We used a pickle jar that we had lying around and soon realised that making terrariums was highly addictive, before we knew it both our houses were over flowing with these little eco-systems.
We then started making for friends and then friends of friends and after a while we were making them for people we didn't even know. It all happened without us really realising!
So where does LT call home?
We’ve had our studio in Bermondsey for about a year now. For us it is a really exciting area, we are surrounded by lots of other studios and work-spaces that have really creative things happening.
Just the other day we turned up and there was a box of sand and soil outside our door with a little note saying ‘we thought this might come in handy for you!’ There’s a really nice open door feeling and everyone is really interested in what is going on and keen to help each other out.
What’s an average day in the studio like?
At the moment Saturday’s are our big studio days and they will quite often start with a workshop. This means an early rise and trip to New Covent Garden Flower Market and then back to the studio to get everything sorted and ready to take to the workshop venue.
These will usually take a few hours and we are normally back in the studio by mid-afternoon, packing away and organising again. Tom’s dad helped us build the interior of the studio, which was great as we were able to curate it how we liked with rows of small shelves for our plants, hooks for tools and a lovely large work desk. When it is tidy the studio is the best place to be!
“Making terrariums is highly addictive... before we knew it our houses were overflowing with little eco-systems.”
Then it is time to work out what’s happening the week ahead, this may mean we have to make some orders for people or organise an install, and usually we have to do a big order of vessels or corks or just make sure the moss is all healthy and watered.
What’s the design process behind your terrariums? Does it depend on the vessel, the plant, etc?
From what we have learnt so far about building a terrarium, it never goes to plan. You may have an idea of what you want a specific vessel to look like, but it always turns out differently!
The smaller vessels we use such as the demijohn and the tinyjohn have a select few plants that can be used, the small leaved Fittonias work really well with some moss and a few pebbles, it is really just a space issue with these as you need to leave room for the plants to grow.
Tom and myself we don’t really see a terrarium as finished after we have built it, the process is an on going development and growth of the plants inside the vessel. That it the most exciting part for us - not knowing how a terrarium will look after a few years as each vessel will turn out completely different.
Workshops are big part of LT. Is teaching people about terrariums an important part of what you do?
We are both still learning ourselves, so each workshop kind of develops from the previous one as we ourselves pick up new knowledge along the way. We didn’t start out with the intention of holding workshops, but now I would say they are our biggest avenue and our favourite part! Showing people our hand made tools and teaching them the best way to get a large plant into a small vessel is so much fun.
We want to show that making a terrarium is so accessible that you can create one using anything you have lying about the house, a jam jar, some compost and moss from the garden plus a cutting from one of your houseplants provide the perfect components to get you started.
Everything we teach at the workshop can be put into practice at home, our first tool was a stick with a cotton reel on one end and a corn on the cob skewer taped to the other, one for patting down the soil in the hard to reach places and the other for ‘jabbing’ things and getting them out again! It’s all pretty resourceful.
Mainly we love just passing on what we know and watching people get so protective over their own terrariums, after workshops. We have had panicked 1am emails from people with questions as to whether their terrarium is looking ok!
You have also made custom designs for some really interesting shops and venues. Which project are you most proud of?
This is a great part of the job as we get to use all the big terrariums and curate completely different displays with them, and each project throws new challenges at us as the lighting and temperate will always differ from place to place.
“That is the most exciting part for us, not knowing how a terrarium will look after a few years as each vessel turns out completely different.”
One of our first installs was at an East London restaurant Merchants Tavern about 2 years ago and this was so exciting. The space, however, was quite dark so we used carboys and a lot of plants which would be ok in low lighting.
After this we also installed in Heal’s on Tottenham Court Road, which seemed to be the perfect conditions for the terrariums to thrive in, the first floor showroom hosted a few of the vessels and it was great watching the plants grow in them over time.
I think we are most proud of our most recent install though. Just before Christmas we took over the windows of concept store The Dandy Lab, using our exclusive Science Vessel Terrariums and introducing some hanging mossariums made especially for the space. It was great dressing the windows with around 20 of our terrariums and arranging them.
As any follower of interior trends knows, houseplants have made a big comeback the last couple of seasons. What do you think sets London Terrariums apart?
I think it is our enthusiasm for what we do and our interest in how these ecosystems actually work. There are a lot of other terrariums makers out there, however some of them seem to be very ornamental, and static, apposed to actually a living self-sustaining cycle.
For us, a cactus in an open glass bowl is not a terrarium. There is no science behind that you have just potted a plant. But if you get some moss on a bed of compost in a closed jam jar you have yourself a terrarium to watch develop. We have sealed terrariums which have been alive for three or more years and they are thriving.
“Sometimes we even have panicked 1am emails from people with questions as to whether their terrarium is looking ok!”
These may not seem that beautiful to some people as they will be very mossy and overgrown, but we love them because for us this is the proof that what we are doing is working.
What are your plans for the future? Any exciting new projects in the pipeline?
We plan to push the workshops much further. We have just had a discussion about doing a terrarium supper club collaboration which would work so well as most of the tools we use originated from our kitchens.
There are also a lot more big installs coming up and we will be hosting workshops and talks in the summer at GROW London and BBC Gardeners World Live, which has gone down very well with my grandparents!
Further Reading:
www.londonterrariums.com
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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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