Deb Bowness – Local:Heroine by Becs Gardner

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Studio

I’m not a cool cat. Never have been. If I like something (or someone for that matter) I find it really hard to not be a total geek about it and wear my heart on my sleeve. This trait showed itself in all its glory when I made a certain discovery only last week.

No doubt you will be familiar with Deborah Bowness’ “Genuine fake bookshelf” wall coverings (if not, you can see the full range of products on her website here). It’s been in myriad interiors magazines, graced the walls of high-profile Designer Abigail Ahern’s London home, and has been imitated numerous times over. It (amongst the rest of Deb’s collection) is one of my most favourite and aspirational interior products. So, I hear you ask, what was my discovery? Just this: all Deb’s wallpapers are handmade in a small factory workshop just 8 miles from my home. My design heroine, Deb, is now officially a Local Treasure too. Gasp.

Original Genuine Fake Bookshelf

Naturally, being a blogger and design enthusiast I couldn’t just leave it there. I had to see if they were open to visitors. You can imagine my excitement when I got the all clear to pay a visit and write it up. Deep breaths. Here it is:

Bowness & Bowness’ workshop is tucked away down a quiet country lane just outside of York. Housed in an unassuming tin warehouse, the only thing letting me know I was heading in the right direction was a bunch of silk screens propped against the outside wall, and one of Deb’s “Utility Lamps” hung just inside the door. No sign, no fanfare. This is business.

Utility Lamp | Kim’s Lamp

I was greeted by Leigh. Leigh is the “other” Bowness; Deb’s sister. With a background in PR & Marketing, Leigh is just the balance the business needs to get the product “out there” and put meals on the table: “Deb would happily create all day long, but she knows we all need to earn a living” says Leigh. For seven years Deb ran the show on her own; designing, producing, marketing (exhibiting, travelling, accounting… sounds exhausting to me). Five years ago Leigh came on board and moved the production back to Yorkshire where the sisters grew up. “We’ve grown the business totally organically, never taking more people on board than we could afford, and never borrowing any money.” As I toured the workshop (read: snooped about) it became clear that this model has worked for them – evidenced by the number of samples and rolls about to head out the door to eager clients.

But more than that; this place is littered with personal touches. Second hand furniture picked up along the years, a series of canvasses produced for a friend’s wedding adorns the walls; the obligatory staff shed (every creative studio needs a shed). This place could only ever have grown organically, out of a passion and love for design. It’s about as far from corporate as you could get; it’s a real cottage industry, a craft.

As I got the low down on the production process, I realised these papers are more like mini works of art than your standard wall covering. It all became very clear why they don’t come at your standard high street price; each trompe l’oeil design is personally photographed by Deborah, then digitally printed in monochrome tones. After that, blocks of colour are added through screen printing, and the final touches are painstakingly added by hand with watercolours.

Wallpaper collections

Even the equipment used throughout the process right down to the lightbox used to expose the silk screens has been purpose-built in situ. “We used to have certain parts of the process done externally”, says Leigh “then realised that we could get a better result bringing it in-house. We get to experiment more without worrying too much about the cost, and of course, we get to control the whole process more closely. Deb is a stickler for quality and detail!” I’m becoming more and more of a fan with every step.

With all the personal touches along the way, this is not something that is easily copied. Put it this way; you can spot an imitation a mile off. But what does it feel like to have your work ripped-off? “It is frustrating, but it’s not something that we can control. On the other hand, if nobody was copying it, that kinda sends a few signals. At least we know we’re doing something right!” Touché.

Shop the Deborah Bowness collection here

Even with Leigh’s input in the business, it can’t be easy balancing the creative side with selling the stuff. I wondered, had they ever been tempted to go down the high street route and get their products sold by a big brand? “Well”, says Leigh “I can’t say too much right now. We know that we have a vast following of people who really love the product, but who aren’t buying it because of the price.” [*ahem, that’s me she’s talking about.] “Let’s just say that we’re keen to make something more accessible and affordable. There are a few irons in the fire.” This is music to my ears. All I can say now is “watch this space”.

♥

Huge thanks to Becs for today’s inspiring posting. Do check out her fabulous interiors blog for real women, An English Girl’s Home, and follow her on Twiiter @becsgardner

French Design Forum 2013

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Studio

Last month I attended the French Design Forum at Chandos House, which was a lovely building to hold the event, with a decorative interior quite unlike any exhibition space I have attended before.

The exhibitors were split into 2 rooms in the building with each company/designer having their own small stand displaying a few material samples, along with ipad’s displaying slide shows of their work and products. It was a good way to hold a small exhibition with minimum expense and logistical fuss. The event was fairly busy during the period I was there and there was a buzz around the stands.

There were a variety of bespoke interior products exhibited - from linens, embroidery, wooden furniture, concrete, brass, leather and metal lighting. However the key stands that stood out for me, and which I thought were most relevant to you as readers of this blog, were:

Concrete by LCDA – Manufacturers of concrete furniture, wall panels and bespoke projects for the commercial environment. They have some interesting examples on their website of past projects. And Scarlet Opus included their wonderful Lamp (inspired by listening devices in Folkestone) on the ‘Peace Corps’ trend board as part of the Spring/Summer 2014 forecast for Interiors. Concrete by LCDA also showed some exciting samples experimenting with colour and textured concrete surfaces:

Tassin – Specialists in bespoke leathers, they were established in 1905 and have been producing hand painted, embossed and gilded leathers for walls, furniture and upholstery ever since. They displayed several very tactile samples of their leather ornamentation-based designs:

La Forge De Style – Specialists in fine metal work and high-end furniture projects using bronze, brass, copper, titanium and aluminum. They displayed a range of metal samples which can be used for bespoke project work:

Ebenisterie Generale – Creators of high end bespoke wooden furniture with a striking modern styling. In addtion to tailor-made furniture they also create stylised wood panelling and interior fittings. Their website shows lots of nice examples of their wonderful work – like the ‘The Inspiration’ desk pictured below (But Miss V particularly likes The Elevation wall writing desk)

Also exhibiting at the French Design Forum and worthy of note were:

Couleurs Privees – Who had created a collection of new minimalistic decorative wall covering surfaces, combining traditional and modern techniques - including a new range of Japanese washi paper to enhance wall surfaces.

Ateliers EMG - Producers of fine wood interiors and furniture for interior designers and architects. They displayed experimental samples made from Palm wood using a variety of techniques (including engraving and marquetry) to push the boundaries of the coconut timber.

You can download the official French Design Forum catalogue HERE and below you can watch a short video of the event:

Special thanks to Agathe from UBiFrance for providing extra images for today’s post

The Truth About Internships

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Studio

During my 2^nd year at Uni some students that were on placements gave a talk on how they felt their placement was going. They all experienced different areas of expertise - some were doing fashion, interiors, marketing and buying etc… But they all had one thing in common - they all commented on the fact their placement year gave them a better understanding and focus on what to create in their final year.

Being a student myself who is currently on placement with Scarlet Opus, it made me think about and evaluate my time working for a company compared to Uni life. So I decided to interview other design students who are also on placements and ask them to reflect on their time as Interns:

The 1st student I interviewed was Gemma Tovey who is currently a student on the ‘Surface Design for Fashion & Interiors’ course at the University of Huddersfield. She is over half way through her placement year. She has done lots of different placements so far covering both the Interiors and Fashion sectors, and ranging from a weeks placement to 3 months. This has included placements with Muraspec, Scarlet Opus, Ege Carpets, Me & Thee, Topshop, and her current placement at Marks & Spencer:

ZI: How are you finding your placement year?

GT: Overall I am finding my placement year very interesting and inspiring. So far I have gained a really positive experience seeing the range of career paths/opportunities, which are available within the industry. I also feel it has been a good experience working in a different environment from University, meeting and working with other like-minded designers.

ZI: Is it what you expected?

GT: Having never previously worked in the Fashion or Interiors industry before my placement year I was quite unsure about what to expect. However having now being on a few different work placements I have found various aspects to be as expected but there were also areas within the companies I did not expect. For example I have worked with both large and small-scale design teams, working to different time scales and seasons using different design methods to suit their target customer:

ZI: Would you recommend other students to pursue a placement or go straight to final year?

GT: I would definitely recommend a placement year to other students although it can be quite difficult at times, a work placement really gives you a higher, more realistic understanding of the industry and what is expected of you once you graduate. Whilst more personally, I feel it has also helped make me more prepared for my final year developing both my design and personal confidence. It is also a great opportunity to gain some feedback and advice from the people in the industry and develop some contacts.

ZI: What advice would you give to companies who offer Internships?

GT: I would say it is really important to make real use of placement students so they can have the opportunity to learn and develop new skills. From my own experience I have found that practically taking part in set briefs has helped make me more focused, interested and eager to get involved. I would also encourage companies to be open, welcoming and willing to answer questions.

The 2^nd student is Kimberley Harrington, who is a 23 year old 3rd year student on the ‘BSc (Hons) Textile Design for Fashion & Interiors’ degree course. In September 2012 she started to work with an automotive interior design company called Sage Automotive based in Bury, north Manchester:

ZI: What skills have you learnt and how will they help in your final year?

KH: So far, half way through, I feel like my eyes have really opened to how this area of the textile world works. I have an ever improving understanding of the automotive fabric production process and general critical timing … due to our fabrics and finishing being carried out in different areas of Europe, this can really play havoc with getting samples to design meetings on time, and makes having our own Uni assignments in on time look like a piece of cake.

ZI: What were the incentives for going for a placement year?

KH: I had reservations when starting my placement about what I would be spending my 11 months doing exactly. In the interview I was asked did I understand that the role involved a lot of chopping and filing of fabrics for the many different customers. However at the back of my mind was, was I really choosing the right words as there were many other placements available that seemed at the time to be more exciting; but a bonus was that this was a paid placement in Manchester - an area I was familiar with. What I did understand was automotive design involved travel and this was a huge appeal. I also come from a sales background and enjoy working with people. So ‘automotive’ seemed a good choice for a placement experience as it involves many global customers and companies.

ZI: Has the placement met your expectations?

KH: When I accepted the offer I was still a little anxious but can safely say I have never looked back! In my first week I was introduced to a new embellishment development project which, little did I know at the time, was to become my own main project! This alone, in my 2^nd week, took me to Brussels to attend a meeting at Toyota Engineering headquarters. Since then I have also worked on the recoloring of current production fabrics, designing new embossing plates, attending design brief meetings with customers, trend research (including trips to MooD & Heimtextil trend shows), and benchmarking, alongside the usual studio work of designing, re-creating and archive work.

The final student I’ve interviewed is Faye Ruth Seale who is studying ’Surface Design for Fashion and Interiors’ at the University of Huddersfield, and she went straight into her final year studies without doing a placement in industry:

ZI: As a future designer what do you feel is going to be the next big thing in terms of themes, patterns and colours for the Interiors market?

FS: I think integrating patterns and repeats are the future, referring to the economy to try and make the designs more interesting and have more depth to them, and using pastel colours to lighten up the mood but still using neutral colours.

Have a look at our Getting Nude blog for inspiration on using pastel and neutral colours.

ZI: Do you feel by going straight into your final year studies it has given you a disadvantage compared to the students who went on placements?

FS: Yes it has. The main reason I came to this University was because of the placement year, and I turned down another University and course because of it. If I was given a placement I feel I would have learnt a lot more and gained so much more experience rather than jumping straight into my final year.

ZI: What was the reason for going straight into final year and were you ready?

FS: The reason I went straight into my final year was because I could only get a 2 week placement and even then I couldn’t do it as I could not afford the rent as it was in London. I do not feel like I was ready to go straight into my final year as I feel I still have so much to learn before I go into industry.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the students who have taken the time to contribute to today’s blog post. I hope this has helped many of you who are either thinking of looking for internships with companies or for businesses who are considering hiring student interns - just think how you would be responsible for helping future designers develop their understanding within business!

It really has been a brilliant experience for me. I came in with no experience and skills of working in industry but over the 5 months so far I have gained confidence in my approach to work. I have always been a grafter but the company have now made me feel confident as they set the task and they leave me to create and offer advice when I most need it. They have boosted my self-esteem and belief in my designs. They see me as part of the team and value my opinions.

Some students may experience positive outcomes whereas others may not but all experience it valuable, not every business has the same method of teaching and their approach will be different. I can thankfully say my experience has been very promising and I don’t have any regrets doing my placement!