30 DESIGNERS REVEAL THE SECRETS OF THEIR SUCCESS

This document is owned and distributed by The Design Trust. We are happy for you to share this ebook with other creatives and students, as long as you do not modify, publish, or in any way exploit the content, in whole or in part, found in this ebook. It may not be sold or otherwise distributed without expressed written consent. | © 2015 The Design Trust

Participating designers and makers in this ebook

Alex MathersBarnaby BarfordBilly LloydChris HaughtonClare TwomeyDavid ClarkeEleanor LakelinEmily Jo GibbsGillies JonesGrainne MortonHamish DobbieHeather McDermottHelaina SharpleyHilary GrantJames & Tilla Waters

Maria AllenMargo SelbyMark TallowinMellorwareMichael Ruh StudioPtolemy MannRachael TaylorRobin LevienSarah HamiltonSebastian BergneSebastian CoxSimone BrewsterSimon PengellyTatty DevineWallace Sewell

Foreword

The Design Trust is proud to be celebrating 30 years of New Designers! In 1985 design journalist and craft collector Peta Levi MBE presented a ground-breaking show, then called ‘Young Designers’ at RIBA with only 150 emerging individual designers.

Over the years New Designers grew massively in size and reputation. For thousands of creative graduates in the UK it has been their launch pad, their first taste of presenting themselves professionally. Many of the top makers and designers have fond memories of this show, and One Year On, which focuses on recently set up businesses.

Peta continued to be at the forefront of creating commercial opportunities for designers and makers, at a time when this was unheard of. She lobbied government relentlessly (!) and provided much needed support in business training, practical marketing workshops and opportunities in the UK and abroad, and created production relationships through the charity The Design Trust and New Designers in Business, which later became Design Nation.

I worked with Peta for nearly 3 years at the end of the 1990s, and particularly loved being involved with New Designers and One Year On. When I took over The Design Trust in 2011 it was a natural step to rebuild the relationship once again. For the last 4 consecutive years I have been excited to be one of the judges for the One Year On Award and have hosted the successful The Design Trust Start Up day at New Designers.

I am really proud to introduce this special celebration ebook to you today, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of a show that has been so instrumental in the careers of many designers and makers in this country. When I approached the 30 designers and makers in this book they were all very excited to be involved and to share so honestly their hard-won lessons, real-life wisdom, challenges and achievements with a new generation of designers and makers. The kind of practical lessons that new and more established creatives need to know and hear, and take inspiration from.

I hope you will love it too. May Peta’s legacy long continue into the future.

Patricia van den Akker

Director of The Design Trust

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Alex is a professional illustrator who has worked with Google, Sony, Wired Magazine and Saatchi & Saatchi. He started the Red Lemon Club in 2009 to help other creatives, and especially illustrators to develop their creative professional careers. He has published several books on self-promotion for illustrators, and also coaches and mentors illustrators. He graduated from UCL and Reading.

Alex Mathers Illustrator & writer redlemonclub.com @redlemonclub @moonape

I work as a nomad, choosing purposefully to work in different locations across the globe for the benefit of fresh thinking and encouraging new perspectives. I’ve worked at home in London, in various cafes in Tokyo and Saigon, and co-working spaces in Vietnam. My studio comprises my notebook, music on headphones, my laptop and my Wacom tablet and nothing more. I enjoy solitude and fewer distractions when I work, but it needs a healthy injection of being surrounded by other people, and new sights and sounds on a regular basis.

I found my style through constant trial and error. My portfolio developed mainly through working on a stock photography site. Eventually I had added 370 illustrations to the site after hundreds of rejections. I’d get instant, real world feedback on which illustrations worked, and which didn’t, through the rejections and approvals I’d receive from inspectors, but also through the actual sales on the site.

I make sure what I do is in line with my higher purpose. This means that what I do has meaning for me.

I have a full life plan in a single spreadsheet. This contains my longer term goals right at the top, mid-term goals further down, right down to my weekly plan at the bottom. At the start of each week, I plan the week ahead as best as I can (based on my longer-term goals, so that everything is in alignment), which keeps me focused and on track. Of course I will often not achieve everything in the way that I planned, but the point is that I have direction each week.

The best advice I’ve got in business was to take action first and to plan second. By all means have an outline of what you want to achieve in your life, but take action before feeling the need to be perfect first. Action will give you the feedback you need in order to tweak your plans as you go along.

The worst advice I ever got was to try to be more like others. Those that succeed are those willing to stand out from the crowd, no matter how isolated that feels.

I got my first client through Elance several years ago. I got a good first gig working for a writer for the Singapore Business Times newspaper doing a series of three illustrations over several weeks on social media topics.

One of the most important things you can do is to build and nurture a growing network of real people in your career. The people who know you are the most important asset you can have. They can be close connections, which you need to be constantly tending to, but also those you are connected to more loosely, via social media or newsletter. The strength of your business is very closely linked to the strength of your network.

I managed to stand out from the crowd by focusing on an original and strong style of illustration and working hard to promote myself, and build my network at a pace quicker and more intense than many others were doing.

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Barnaby Barford is an artist who works primarily with ceramics to create narrative pieces. He is best known for his work with both mass-market and antique found porcelain figurines, cutting up and exchanging elements or adding to them and repainting them, to create sculptures which are often sinister and sardonic but invariably humorous. Over the last few years his practice has developed and his last exhibition ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ saw him making large scale ceramic sculpture exploring sin in our contemporary world. He graduated from the University of Plymouth in 200, and the Royal College of Art in 2002. He was Wallpaper Magazine’s Young Designer of the Year in 2005.

Barnaby Barford Artist barnabybarford.co.uk @BarnabyBarford

Someone wanted to buy my work at New Designers, but I asked a silly high price and now it’s still in my garden shed! Always better to sell your work to have it in their house or office and talk about it. Don’t be too precious about your work, you can always and will always make more.

Enjoy it. I used to get very stressed. All I did was work day and night. It was the only thing in my life. I have realised that actually I need to enjoy work. If I am constantly worried about my work and everything around it and if it was to all finish tomorrow, what would I have said? I couldn’t even say ‘Well, at least it was fun while it lasted’. So now I make a point of enjoying it!

My wife is very instrumental in telling me if what I am doing is rubbish or not! Always good to have someone you can trust and has a good eye – and understands you! When I started I didn’t exactly know what my work was about, but persisted in making and thinking and following this path. Over the years I understood more and more what I wanted to make work about, and this has now allowed me to explore this in different ways.

Keep your overheads low. Make work wherever you are. There are a million excuses not to make work, so just get on with it.

Especially on big jobs the creative bit is about 1%. The rest is graft and project management. I still think it is a fluke anything comes out at the end as I am not the most organised person, but when it boils down to it, there is no alternative so things get done.

You realise as you get further down the line that YOU need to drive everything

forward. No one will ever do that for you. No one has standards as high as you. And write lists. Nothing worse than having a million things in your brain and not knowing where to start. When seen on paper I think it always is less daunting.

I am still a bit surprised by the lack of good computer skills of new graduates, especially the Adobe programmes. I am afraid to say that artists and designers probably won’t want you for your ideas.

I am always surprised that new people are surprised at how hard we actually work. Don’t expect to walk in to interesting work. Sometimes trust needs to be built between employee and employer. Once you have excelled at more menial tasks there is always the opportunity to grow and have more of an influence.

Portrait by Andy Dunn

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Billy designs and makes ceramic tableware for craft-led manufacture. A career highlight was selling his

‘Edition Of Fifty Mugs’ to Vicki Conran for Terence Conran’s Christmas present. He graduated from Camberwell College with a BA in Ceramics in 2003-6, and worked with Maze Hill Pottery from 2006-07, and with Julian Stair from 2007-11. His work can be bought through the Conran Shop, The New Craftsmen, and CAA. He was the Homes and Gardens Magazine ‘Young Designer Runner Up’ in 2014.

Billy Lloyd Ceramicist billylloyd.co.uk @billylloydesign

My first retail client was Terence Conran’s sister, Priscilla Carluccio when she had her shop Few and Far. Priscilla noticed some of my work in progress whilst visiting Julian Stair at his studio and placed a small order for the opening of her shop in 2008.

The best advice I ever received was by Robin Levien, who said:

”Make a decision. Are you an artist or a designer?”

At art school I was taught the importance of making and understanding material characteristics. The more you know about different materials and processes, the better you will be able to positively exploit them, and the more versatile you will become as a designer and maker.

I was fortunate enough to undertake two consecutive apprenticeships [with Maze Hill Pottery and Julian Stair] and learnt as much about what I didn’t want to do, as what I did want to do. One’s education never really stops but I think particularly at the early stages of a career, it can be of great benefit to work with people who are already well established in their field.

Taking myself out of familiar surroundings often frees up my mind and helps me think laterally. I also find the relaxed nature of working on a Saturday to be a particularly fertile time to think up new projects.

I try not to get too caught up with the ‘new’ and instead concentrate on getting better at what I already know, whilst trying to improve my areas of weakness. It’s very important to know your strengths and weaknesses because a modern craftsman must fulfil numerous roles in order to build a sustainable business. If there is an aspect of your practice that you think someone else could do better, such as your marketing or finances, then perhaps consider recruiting someone to do it for you.

Everything I have experienced, both good and bad, has shaped me into the person I am today. It is important to look back and reflect on what you have achieved, and learn how you can build and improve on them to move forward.

I started illustrating while I was still in college. The first time I was paid to draw was for a magazine; a series of caricatures for the Dublin fashion magazine dSIDE. The first one was of the drag queen Shirley Templebar.

I stood out at the start because of the volunteer work I had done for fair trade. I love design and designing but I have sometimes felt conflicted because I think that design has a frivolous element to it and I was on the look out to do something more worthwhile and positive. I began doing jobs here and there for People Tree, a UK based fair trade company, and that snowballed into paid work for non-profits and NGOs. It grew out of trying to work in areas of design that I felt are worthwhile.

Listen to criticisms and advice others’ have of your work. I try to listen to everyone involved, people I work with, children, Art Directors, sales people, librarians, bookstores, everyone involved has a different perspective on what makes good illustration and why. You can’t and shouldn’t follow them all but you can take on board their reasoning. My Art Director and Editor and I don’t always agree but we are all trying to make a good book together. It’s good to be challenged because it raises the bar. And quite a lot of the time they are the ones who are right!

I spent years never quite getting around to writing my first children’s book. I wanted to do it, and had some ideas but I was always busy working on other projects. When I finally did get to it I was so happy to see how well people responded. I am SO glad that I went through with it. It made me wish I had got around to it sooner as the books have done way better for me than any of the work I did previously.

As illustrators we are so lucky that we can create projects from the very start. Children’s books, apps, products all need to be designed and illustrated. If the illustrator initiates them then they are often much more thoughtfully made than if they are asked half way through to just add some illustrations. Those who commission illustrators are often frustrated that it doesn’t look right. We as illustrators are lucky that we can make something look exactly as we want from the very start.

William Morris is my favourite designer I think. I’m reading his biography right now. I also get a lot from Folk Art, textiles and outsider art. ‘The Museum of Everything’ shows are the most inspiring shows I have seen in London.

I think it is good to always put a little pressure on yourself to keep improving. It’s nice to remember that no matter who you are or how good the illustration is it can ALWAYS be improved in some way. If you do not keep pushing yourself in a new direction each time, it won’t become a voyage of discovery and you could quite easily get a little bored. Going the extra mile pays off in so many ways.

I think though the most important advice, like anything, is just to follow your heart and do what you love. That way you can never put a foot wrong, you are always going in the right direction and who knows where it will take you.

Chris is an award-winning illustrator, known for his colourful children’s book and fair trade design. His books have been translated into over 20 languages, and won the Dutch Picture Book of The Year award, the Irish Children’s Book of the Year and the AOI Award 2010/14. He graduated from NCAD in Dublin in 2001. He is based in Hackney, London.

Chris HaughtonIllustrator & author chrishaughton.com @chrishaughton

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People inspire me, the people I get to work with in these big project relationships, curators, directors, collectors, the subjects of the works focus. It is usually an exceptional experience. I am very loyal to the purposes of the commissioned work, I take the long journey to try and find the right answers.

My credibility is based on the work I deliver. It is essentially so important to stay focused on how important the work is to you and the people you are working with, big or small.

I have done the only thing I could as an artist, stick to my aims: create meaningful works of art that had the potential to be useful to the people who experienced them.

Write to busy people, write to them again. Show willing and turn up.

Whilst I was at college my tutors gave good advice and encouraged me to challenge myself.

Competitions were my main focus for five years. They offer freedom and exposure.

I have made work I believed in and the rest followed. It was not luck or chance. It was about being present. Being relevant.

Keep reading, keep going to conferences, stay aware of the sectors you work in, and others. The future is going to be wildly different.

Art school taught me to be diligent and apply care. They taught me that the future is yet to be made.

Clare Twomey graduated from Edinburgh in 1994, and the Royal College in 1996. She is known for her large scale ceramic installations, making work that challenges perceptions of self and the role of material values. She has made work for the V&A, Tate, The Royal Academy and the Crafts Council.

Clare TwomeyClaretwomey.com @Ctwomeystudio

Photograph by Matthew Andrew

New Designers was hot sweaty and good fun. I met makers then that I am still in contact with now. We had a laugh and we worked really well as a group of very random individuals!

Mistakes are the best way to learn. It may be tough in the moment but on reflection it’s a great process to go through.

My first client was an interior design company. They were visiting another maker who I shared a studio with. They saw my work and commissioned me, which led to a 5 year relationship where they showed my work in their showroom and their clients could buy my work.

I now run workshops around the world; Sweden, USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Greece and Chile to name a few. However my primary focus is the work I make in the studio in Central London. I share with 2 other silversmiths in an old textile factory. We are up in the roof, freezing in winter but thank goodness for whiskey!!

Whilst studying I worked at Marks & Spencer for 13 long years; starting as potato filler and working up to become a Store Manager. All the business and customer knowledge I learned has been brought into my business. Funny how things work out!

When I get feedback from clients who say how much the work effects them on a daily basis, it confirms that the work I make is relevant beyond me. It is the best confirmation and compliment.

My first large commission was with Asprey & Garrard, which came through Peta Levi [founder of New Designers and The Design Trust] working her magic with the ‘big guns!’ It was a fantastic opportunity and would never have happened without her influence.

I continually assess, stand back, reflect and build a strategy of where I want to be positioned within the discipline and the market. Uniqueness is very important to me as there is nothing worse than having your work read as someone else’s!

My creative process has developed over the years. It involves others through collaboration, and with groups such as Intelligent Trouble. My process is questioning traditions, ways of working, what is a tool? And I hope I challenge many of the aspects of the discipline I work within.

David Clarke is often cited as one of Britain’s most highly innovative silversmiths. Producing a wealth of covetable objects, pivotal in the renaissance of contemporary British silversmithing and metalwork. He graduated from Camberwell College of Art in 1992, and the Royal College of Art in 1997.

David ClarkeSilversmith misterclarke.wordpress.com @mister_clarke


Eleanor LakelinWood eleanorlakelin.co.uk @EleanorLakelin

Eleanor creates beautiful lathe-turned/carved vessels and sculptural forms in wood. Using only trees grown in Britain, she uses the vessel form to explore the layers and fissures between creation and decay, and our relationship with nature. She has been represented at exhibitions such as COLLECT with Sarah Myerscough Gallery, and SCULPTURAL 15 with William Benington Gallery. She has a degree in Linguistics, and an Advanced Diploma in Cabinet/Furniture Making from London Metropolitan University.

I was a teacher in Europe and Africa for some years followed by many years as a furniture-maker. All experiences I think end up having an influence on what you create, either through shapes, colours, textures and forms you may have seen and remembered from another part of the world, experiencing other people’s work or through having to do a job which may have restricted your creativity.

Don’t be afraid to ask. A simple email does not take long. If you are clear and honest about which skills you have, however unrelated and what you would hope to get from the experience then you give yourself a good chance of a response. If you get an opportunity then grab it with both hands. People spend many years building up contacts, sources of material and ways of working that you are being offered a window into. The opportunity may introduce you to ideas and people that will be enormously helpful as your career develops.

I sketched out a business plan initially and now periodically revisit it in my head when on a long journey. It is really helpful to talk through your business from time to time with someone who knows nothing about it. When you have to describe the essence of it, you have to think clearly and dispassionately about it.

If you can be part of a group of makers or designers through your studio then there will always be advice and support at hand. Being part of a group such as The Design Trust, Crafts Council Hothouse or attending seminars and training through local organisations will not only provide professional development but a network of people to connect to and get support from.

Look at everything. Things you don’t like are as important as things you do. Working out why you don’t respond to a shape, texture, material or design helps you to refine what you are aiming for yourself.

If I could start again I would plan and organise even more; website development, mailing list set up, postage and packing design and manufacture, material sourcing etc whilst there was time. As soon as you get busy with orders and exhibitions you will have to go with the momentum and there may be very little time to organise these aspects of your business.

Photograph by Stephen Brayne

Emily Jo Gibbsemilyjogibbs.co.uk @EmilyJoGibbs

Emily Jo is known for her delicate, hand-stitched textiles. She graduated from Wolverhampton in 1992. She started out making handbags selling to high end fashion stores. Her ‘Conker Bag’ is in V&A Museum collection. She now has a commission-based practice selling to individuals. She is a member of the 62 Group of Textile Artists, and a Fellow of the RSA.

I have never looked for a niche or tried to create a signature style. I’m inspired by the materials I choose and things I see all around me. My style comes from the skills I have developed to make the work I imagine.

When I started I was simply pedalling a few products! I quickly learnt that I would have to produce two distinctive collections a year with colour ranges, price points, specials and exclusives. The first 10 years of my business was very exciting but also quite draining creatively. In 2005 I won a Craft Central award to create a whole new body of work for a new audience. I found it extremely liberating, and was excited to be making pieces with less constraints and exploring new techniques whilst still using many of the skills I honed making handbags. I found the change in pace between running a fashion-driven handbag business and establishing myself as an Artist quite difficult to navigate at times. Determined to make work that was personally and creatively rewarding I embarked on a series of embroidered portraits of my family and this has led to a whole new commission based practice.

I work from home now in South East London, but for 10 years I had a studio at Craft Central. I started in a really tiny studio and gradually got larger ones as my business expanded.I do like the discipline of going to a workplace and it being separate from home. But at the moment working from home suits me.

My very first handbag sales I received by taking my sample bags around to independent shops. My big break came 6 months after setting up. I met the buyers from Takashimaya who had just opened a flagship store on 5th Avenue. They bought my sample collection, which I had made at university. That was the beginning of a great relationship and they continued to buy my collections for the next ten years. Also being in such a super new boutique-style department store attracted lots of UK buyers to my brand.

It turns out I’m extremely deadline driven so I find it really helpful to book exhibitions, appointments etc. well in advance and then plot on a time line of what needs doing by when.


Gillies Jones are a partnership that are known for their beautifully coloured, blown and engraved glass pieces. Operating from their studio and workshop in the North York Moors National Park, they have developed a unique aesthetic, drawing inspiration from the elemental beauty of their rural surroundings. They graduated in Stourbridge in 1989 and Wolverhampton in 1990 respectively.

Gillies Jones: Stephen Gillies & Kate Jones Glass designer makers gilliesjonesglass.co.uk @gilliesjones

We blow glass. We love to blow glass. The only way to really blow glass well is to do it every day. To blow glass every day you need your own furnace. So we have a business doing just that.

We set up 4-5 years after graduating, after a long international apprenticeship working in Denmark, Switzerland and the USA. Learning practical making skills with some of the world’s most accomplished glassmakers and observing different models in how to run a business.

We opened our doors on the 1st May 1995 and people walked right in and bought glass! The first visitor was a man of the cloth buying a decanter for communion wine. Our first retailer was the Conran Shop, who we met through the Prince’s Trust.

Our approach has solid foundations in drawing and in long acquired skills. The work is changing as the process becomes second nature. The work is becoming freer as new materials and confidence in the surface mark making allows more freedom and experimentation.

We do our very best to make sure visitors to the studio enjoy the experience. People like to engage with makers these days, and with modern communications it’s never been easier to share our enthusiasm and love of our work with other people who ‘get it’.

We have a ‘home-and-away’ marketing strategy. Home is targeted through print media, selective advertising and PR to local publications for 50 miles around the studio aimed at visually literate locals and the visitor economy. Away we use social media (mostly Twitter and Instagram) and we attend the occasional retail event.We no longer look for small bowl trade sales with craft galleries, but focus our energies on unique works for specialist and fine art galleries. We have been fortunate to show with some excellent galleries and at COLLECT. We benefited from being a Walpole Crafted Alumni. And we have been very lucky to appear on TV in the Priceless Antiques Roadshow and Secret Britain.

It’s tough running a creative business. After 20 years I have taken on help in the office, which has changed my life! But it is tough. The kids are growing up and later in life I hope to have more ‘me’ time. Working on the original pieces keeps me sane and everything else goes to hell while I have my head in a bowl!

Enjoy yourselves, don’t take it for granted as life can change suddenly, don’t put off asking others for help. And just crack on! Don’t be afraid. Believe in yourself and others will believe in you too.

There is now soooo much advice and help out there so ask questions of folks like The Design Trust. If you don’t know: ask, there really is no point spending the time re-inventing the wheel. Use that time on your work. Business tools can seem a bit dry and not right for a creative, but they are just tools which you can adapt, you really can trim square pegs down and make them fit round holes!

Grainne has been using found objects to design and make jewellery, since starting her business in 1995 when this was an unusual way to work. Her customer base is varied and are usually drawn to the individual aspect of her work. Dawn French, Kerry Fox, Judy Dench, Susan Sarandon are a few of the names that have purchased her jewellery. She was shortlisted for the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize in 2007. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1992 (BA Hons) and in 1993 with a PG (Dip).

Grainne Morton Jeweller grainnemorton.co.uk @GrainneMorton

It was the teaching style at ECA that was most valuable to me. I had one of the most influential teams in the UK, led by Dorothy Hogg. We were encouraged to find our own unique style. Whilst we weren’t really taught any skills for starting up in business I think having the luxury of time to experiment at collage, making pieces that at times weren’t particularly wearable or sellable because of the time taken to execute, I value the work I created back then and still return to some of the ideas even today.

Hindsight has made me realise what an easy time we had back then as far as outlets and shows were concerned. The market was very buoyant. I exhibited at my first Chelsea Crafts Fair in 1996 and for 10 years my business revolved around that show. I worked extraordinary hard, but it paid off. Times have changed so much in our industry; Chelsea and many galleries have shut down, social media is a totally new aspect. All these changes were happening whilst I was having my family. I went through a tricky few years where I was struggling to know where my product fitted in. I didn’t realise how lucky I was to have the success I had early on and that in a way I took it for granted.

I knew even at school that I would become self-employed. My parents were both self-employed. I had a huge stepping stone; I spent almost a year in Kilkenny on a ‘Business Design Skills’ Course, ran by the Crafts Council of Ireland. It was a fabulous year and I felt very privileged to be given that opportunity. There were 12 of us, all new graduates in different disciplines. We were given workshop space, business tuition and paid a weekly allowance. The goal at the end of the course was to produce a business plan, which was invaluable. I was able to make the orders I had taken at New Designers and started to think commercially for the first time, which I struggled with, but it was the making of my business.

I love my work and could work round the clock if you let me! I don’t think that is a healthy way to live though, and have to say the wonderful thing about having a family is that is has given me a balance that I didn’t have in the past. Sometimes it’s hard to juggle everything, but I feel really privileged to be able to make a living doing what I love.

It took me a long time to realise that you do get a core amount of customers that keep coming back. I think it was a confidence issue, I thought that if a customer bought

– that was it, they would go somewhere else next time. This is so not the case and many of my customers have become collectors. In order for customers to come back you need to keep your work moving, keep your style but always introduce new pieces.

Be confident, not cocky. Be passionate – it shows in your work. Be prepared to work really really hard especially in the first five years of your business. Never give up!

I am continuously collecting for my work. When it comes to making a piece I tend to start with one item and form a story around that one piece. It’s all about playing with lots of options, adding, taking away until the design is right.

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Hamish DobbieSilversmith & jeweller hamishtdobbie.co.uk @HTDSilver

Hamish is an emerging, Scottish silversmith who uses a combination of 3D printing and traditional hand-skills to create his work. He has showcased his innovative work at Goldsmiths’ Fair, and was shortlisted for the Perrier Jouët Arts Salon Prize. He graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2013.

I have just finished setting up my workshop in Glasgow. It is part of an artist studio in the East end of Glasgow which I share with 2 other makers. I also tutor CAD and 3D printing at Glasgow School of Art. I find that being in Glasgow helps me to explore different landscapes as it is very easy to get out into the wilderness and take a moment to reflect.

My first client was actually the university I studied at. I was working on my first piece for the degree show (a sterling silver and walnut hard wood candelabra) and all 4th year students were asked to show their work to the younger years. The Director came around and decided that she wanted to buy my piece. The school purchased it as a retirement present for the Director.

I like to try and capture a feeling of movement in my work despite the pieces being very static objects, they have a flowing feel to them. This is something that I want to continue with in my work and I think that theme is something that will stay in my work for a while.

I have developed my creative process over the last two years. I started by using 3D Printing to create the finished object. This process works great for certain pieces, but it’s too limiting for the scale I want to work on. I realised that the aspect of 3D Printing that I like is the ability to create highly complex objects with huge levels of extremely precise detail. I use printing to create a master unit, of which I make a mould. From this mould I create hundreds of wax versions and hand build these into the finished object. Hand-building allows each piece to be totally unique, and allows me to create pieces which are far bigger than any current wax 3D Printer can create. The only limitation is the scale at which I am able to cast the parts into silver.

I did a project for a client that turned out to take 10 times longer than I had first quoted. I very quickly learnt to get all the information and to assess the job before quoting a price. It was a lesson that I luckily learnt very early on and has been something that I have done every time since.

I have always felt that customer service is the most important thing for a business such as my own. The client is dealing with you and they are spending money on you. They expect professionalism, however they also want to know they are buying from a person, not a massive company. I try to be myself but at the same time I treat the clients the way I would want to be treated. Always give the client all the information they need upfront and if the situation changes keep them informed as to what has happened and why this has affected their order.

Heather McDermottJeweller heathermcdermott.co.uk @heathermcdermo5

Heather McDermott designs and makes contemporary jewellery inspired by the ever changing shoreline of the Isle of Skye. She has participated in the Goldsmiths’ Fair twice since graduating with an MA from Edinburgh College of Art in 2011. She has designed and made small jewellery collections for Margaret Howell. She has won a Creative Scotland Artists Bursary and was selected for the Crafts Council’s Hothouse programme in 2013.

New Designers was my first experience of exhibiting on this type of scale and was a real eye opener to what was coming out of Art colleges across the country. I don’t feel I made full use of the experience due to lack of maturity, however with One Year On I had another chance. That opened the door to meeting new stockists, exhibition opportunities and new contacts, which I wouldn’t have made otherwise. I think it was a crucial show for hitting off my business.

In the first 2 years of business I tried a lot of different events, exhibitions and stockists, which has given me the chance to learn from my mistakes quite quickly. I had a part-time job and have cut the hours significantly this year to really push my business forward and manage my time better. Living at home does give me the luxury of being able to do this but I am making sure I make the most out of it I’m sure it won’t last forever!

I think one of the main things I learnt at college was to stick to my instincts. My course was driven by making and being as creative as possible, so the cold reality of the big bad world hit me like a ton of bricks when I left. There is a real lack of business skills taught, and as we are all expected to have a career in jewellery or within the industry, it would have been great to have more input into how to survive!

I am based in the very south of the Isle of Skye, where I grew up. I moved home in 2012 to set up my business and my location is very important for my inspiration. My studio is currently in a shed/gallery situated in our garden. We open the studio during the season where I work and sell my jewellery.

My practice developed organically until the beginning of this year (start of year 3) but I have now implemented monthly reviews looking at sales and performance. I now spend more time researching new markets and trade people to contact.

If I could start again I would really spend time on my designs and collection as a whole and have more of a strategy on how to release new products, and take the time to promote these properly.

Sometimes you need someone to tell you to stop going down a path, especially after college, where you have had such an intense period of input from tutors. I think I always had quite a strong style throughout college especially in the use of colour and creating statement pieces. One of my biggest learning curves was how to make this style work with wearable, sellable jewellery!

I have an amazing local arts organisation called Emergents that have been a major part of my growth. I would encourage young creatives to find their nearest business advisory group or arts organisation to establish links, get advice and to network with others that are in your area.


Helaina SharpleyWirework artist helainasharpley @HelainaSharpley

Helaina creates intricate wirework wall pieces that cross the boundaries between drawing and sculpture. The day she found out that David Hockney had bought two of her pieces was a highlight!She graduated in 2006 BA (Hons) Design Crafts from Hereford College of Art and Design. Her work sells through various galleries in the UK, and she sells at craft fairs such as MADE London, Brighton Art Fair and The Contemporary Craft Festival. She has won the ‘Wow’ factor award at the BCTF for many years, won the silver prize in the Craft & Design Selected Awards wood and metal category in 2010.

In the first few months of my degree, I was developing my theme and looking at the elegance of Victorian tea drinking. I collected old sepia postcards and Francis Frith photograph books, and began doing drawings of grand seaside architecture. At the local art shop I discovered a mapping nib and bought some sepia ink, and my drawings became tiny, intricate and more detailed. Having spent weeks drawing, my tutor told me (jokingly I think), that if I didn’t start making something he would transfer me to the illustration degree! He then gave me a reel of wire. I started creating flat, wire continuous line drawings of Victorian ladies with parasols. I owe my wire working to my tutor – Ed Gaze. But my signature style has developed through my perseverance and perfectionist nature.

My initial inspiration was tea drinking and so early work mainly featured tea cups and cake. I began researching into Victorian and Edwardian tea drinking, and so now a lot of my work depicts elegant and intricate architecture of these times.

The biggest lesson I learnt is to just keep going! That there will be really tricky times, but being a self-employed artist brings many rewards.

My degree had a business studies element throughout (we had a business lecture every week and had to write a final year business plan). And although I didn’t necessarily take in all the information given to me, it did give me a grounding; so I knew about overheads and costing, marketing and bookkeeping. This meant that I had a good foundation for my business, I wasn’t just a wireworker.

I have a studio at The West Yorkshire Print Workshop in Mirfield. I rented a studio as soon I graduated, as I realised I needed to ‘go to work.’ I like a routine, and walking10 minutes from my home to the studio gives structure to my day.

Be yourself! Do not compare yourself to others, have your own goals and dreams.

I surround myself with things (I’m a bit of a hoarder!) I collect old cutlery and china, postcards and books, and if I need some inspiration, I flick through a book or draw a tea cup. I find it’s important not to get annoyed that you’re lacking inspiration, but to just keep searching.

I’m lucky enough to be using an unusual method/material to create quite striking artworks. But at the start of my career (and throughout) I think it’s just hard work that’s got me so far. I said yes to almost everything (exhibitions, talks, workshops, commissions) to build a good and extensive C.V. and get my work seen.

Photograph by Tim AtkinsonPortrait by Michael Oakes

I have a home studio in Orkney. My studio looks out onto the sea so the view is always changing- it’s a constant inspiration and provides me with beautiful backdrops to use in photography. It’s also possible to avoid distractions and just concentrate on design and creating work that is unique.

Working so remotely does have its challenges: It’s a 20 minute drive to the nearest post office, and travelling for business takes longer and is more costly. I have to do a lot of planning to use my time effectively on business trips because of those constraints.

I’m lucky to have quite a unique way of life and be surrounded by a culture that is connected with the product I make. I know a lot about being cold and fed up by the winter and all these experiences are turned around into something positive - and hopefully this means something to our customer as well.

I got my first paid job with a design/ technology research group in the Scottish Highlands. They were having an open studio and I decided to hand in my CV in person. I made up a small CV- an A5 booklet, printed on heavy card and bound professionally. In the booklet I separated the skills I had in to categories: Concept, Design, Technical & Practical, and explained exactly what skills I had to offer and why I would be of value to their team. I received an email a few months later, asking if I would consult for a two-week project and ended up staying there for a year.

I officially started my business in 2011 having gradually worked up to it. I spent a couple of years in industry, working full time or freelance. My first paid job was with a start-up smart textiles company where I was employed to develop concepts into a collection of really commercial fashion accessories and gift products for children. I was involved in everything from costing, to refining production processes, researching materials, market research.

I studied textile design and more often than not, I just produced flat fabric samples, which weren’t really made into anything. Being able to produce a finished object - and see through the process - from sketch to market - really excited and inspired me and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.

I’m still trying to work things out, but one thing that’s made the biggest difference to my business is to acknowledge that you can’t do everything yourself. You have to learn

to trust people to take over certain parts of your business in order to make more time for designing and creating.

Brands will have to come up with more ways to engage and create exciting and entertaining websites. I think pop up shopping events will probably become more and more prevalent as city centre retail units become more expensive and more risky.

I think that there will be a big industry change in the fashion seasons. The timing of the commercial seasons are starting to become irrelevant to the UK climate and brands and retailers will eventually respond to this.

Hilary Grant designs knitted accessories and blankets in Orkney, that are known for their colour and pattern, combining traditional rules with a modern approach. She supplies independent boutiques and stores in the UK, and major department stores overseas including Isetan, Kapok and Hankyu. She graduated in 2007 from DJCAD in Dundee.

Hilary GrantTextiles designer hilarygrant.co.uk @hilary_grant


James and Tilla describe their glossy, thrown tableware as ‘mainly quiet and serious but with playful, cheeky elements.’ They graduated from The Slade and Bath College in the late 1980s, and were apprentices to Rupert Spira in the late 1990s. They won the Wesley-Barrell Craft Award in 2011, and Winners of the Homes & Gardens Design Awards Ceramics & Glass in 2013.

James & Tilla Waters Ceramicists jamesandtillawaters.co.uk @TillaWaters

TW: We worried about rejections from galleries, events, memberships etc. (We had plenty). If you continue working creatively and constructively inevitably you gain experience. Raise your game and people will notice. We tended to place too much importance on each individual event – thinking that if we succeeded we would have ‘made it’ and if we didn’t that meant we were no good. Now I see it as a complex pattern of ups and downs.

TW: I learned to criticise my work and my peers’ work. Sometimes it was harsh and upsetting but it was generally fair and constructive. Now James and I try to look at our practice with objectivity and frequently question assumptions. People in the craft world tend to be very nice and polite so we rely on each other to be rigorous and ask those awkward questions.

JW: What’s special about our creative approach is our collaboration. It’s about balancing our creative inputs and nurturing our emotional engagement with what we’re doing. We try to find ways to bring to the work what each of us does best, without stifling or confusing the other’s contribution.

TW: We get inspiration from the work itself. From using it and wanting to make it better. It’s chicken and egg - if we don’t fire the kiln very often we lose motivation – we need the excitement of seeing new results.

JW: What seems like a mistake one day can be, on another day, the seed of a new direction. Don’t be too quick to take the hammer to “mistakes”. Let them hang around for a while – long enough for them to escape from your preconceptions.

TW: It’s easy to think everyone else is doing better than you. People are far more likely to tweet about positive things that are happening to them than negative things. It’s your relationship with your work which really matters.

TW: I worry that it sounds like a 70s throw-back cliché when I describe it … but our workshop is a converted cowshed across the yard from our house in Rural Carmarthenshire. The building was semi-ruined so now consists of a mix of old and new materials. It is a very practical space but still has rustic bits. There are no other houses in sight or earshot so it’s extremely quiet. I think the quietness is important for us and our work.

TW: I think about our work a lot (whilst washing up, walking home from school in the mornings etc. and I suspect those times are crucial for my brain to think creatively. It’s a very gentle, unstructured kind of thinking.

Portrait by Kathryn Campbell

I’m proud to have created my own job for myself after I graduated. I love what I do so it doesn’t seem like work every day! I am also proud to have created jobs for other people and to have built a team around me, who are really inspiring to work with each day.

When I was at college I got some great advice from someone during an enterprise competition that I entered. She said to imagine exactly where you want to be in 10 years’ time, right down to the details like what the room that you work in looks like. Then work backwards and break it down; What do you need to do in 5 years to reach that dream? In 2 years? In 1 year? I found what I had written down then (8 years ago) and it’s amazing to see how much of it is now a reality! I have updated my goals since then, so that there are always new things to be working on!

I started making and selling cards when I was at school, which moved onto jewellery in my first year of university. I wasn’t able to find jewellery that I really liked, so I taught myself how to make it. It started in my parent’s house and then soon enough, it took up most rooms in their house! When we moved into a studio space I could start hiring staff and since then we have moved to a bigger studio again. There is now a team of between 6 – 10 of us working at the studio, depending on what time of year it is, as our business is seasonal.

Test the market with your new idea, see what feedback you get from customers. Don’t be afraid to try out your ideas, or approach new people or shops. The worst that can happen is that they say no!

I made a charm bracelet for myself and for a friend’s birthday. People kept asking me where it was from and where they could get one. They started placing orders for themselves and friends’ of friends, and I decided to sell them at craft fairs. Around the same time opened an Etsy shop, and to my amazement I started getting orders from all over the world! Each time I received positive feedback it encouraged me to make more and develop my designs. I always love hearing what our customers have to say and many new product ideas have been created from their feedback and requests, and a lot of those have gone on to become bestsellers!

Our business is fast-paced, growing and also seasonal, meaning we often need extra help at certain times of the year. We put job ads out when we are looking for someone, but would also be happy to hear from people interested in work experience. As we are a small business there is the opportunity to work in and contribute to different areas of the business. A degree and experience is useful, but not essential

– we mainly look for individuals who are highly motivated with a positive working attitude, attention to detail, and who are organised.

Maria Allen Boutique make hand-crafted products using reclaimed British and sustainably sourced wood. The company started making jewellery, but have since extended the range to include accessories, homeware and wedding décor. They have collaborated with museums including the Tate, The British Museum, The National Trust and The Royal Academy of Art to create bespoke ranges for their gift shops. They won Not On The High Street’s

‘Personalised Product of the Year’ for their personalised mini-love letter necklace. Maria graduated from Brighton University in 2011.

Maria Allen Jeweller mariaallenboutique.com @maria_allen

I think it’s important to just get out there and start doing something, even trying it out on a small scale, as if you overthink the situation and wait till the perfect moment you may never actually start!


Margo Selby Textile designer margoselby.com @MargoSelby

Margo Selby Ltd is a woven textile studio that produces exceptional quality textile products for interiors. Margo’s weaving expertise is central to all the product development and designs begin on a 24-shaft dobby loom and are then developed with specialist mills to translate these hand-woven constructions into products, including hand-knotted and hand-tufted rugs, broadloom carpets, upholstery and decorative soft furnishings. Margo graduated from Chelsea College of Art in 1999, and the Royal College of Art in 2001.

When I first graduated I worked as a freelance woven textile designer for mills and so I had a network of manufacturing contacts that I would design for. I saw an opportunity to use these producers to work as manufacturing partners on my own textile brand.

Keeping an eye on your cashflow will empower you and give you confidence in the decisions you are making in the business.

I started my business twelve years ago working on a hand-loom in my bedroom. Since then, it has grown to a busy textile studio employing 8 full-time members of staff and a team of piece workers in Whitstable.

I love to travel and have been looking lots at indigenous textiles over the past 2 years. Our recent collection combines inspiration from Japanese textiles, which are sophisticated and delicate with pattern from African tribes which are bold and rhythmic. I am constantly gathering images and ideas and collating these into cohesive groups, which can then be translated into fabric collections.

I enjoy working with business partners and brands who have the same ethos to sustain and back weaving in all forms, including Habitat, John Lewis and West Elm. I am also appreciative to the galleries who showcase textile art. Collaboration is a great way to shake up the approach to design and look at things with a new perspective.

The work of the Bauhaus designers has always been an inspiration to my design process. I can compare myself to them in that I am equally passionate about creating a piece of weaving which celebrates the beauty of a woven textile as an art form as well as developing ideas in weaving which are suitable for industrial production. Weaving is my passion and starting point for all I do, whether it be a one-off art piece or a commercial design. The two are intrinsically linked and symbiotic.I revel in, support and promote weaving.

I am passionate about developing my own technical understanding, supporting hand-weavers around the world so they are able to continue to create revenue from their craft, and working with industry to innovate design and production so that manufacturers can thrive.

A newsletter is essential and is also the most affordable way to stay in touch and let people know about what you are doing. It’s important to take time to ensure it is smart and sends the right message to the people you are wanting to connect to.

I have been mentored by some very talented people along the way, Ann Sutton and Wallace Sewell were among some of the first people to teach me about actual weaving. In more recent years I have had mentoring from a business perspective. I now very much enjoy to mentor other creatives about running a business with handcrafted roots, from start-ups to mid-career designers and makers.

Portrait by Caroline Marden

I find it a great relief to hear from well-established creators that they still struggle with many of the things I am struggling with. My biggest piece of advice would be to seek out the people you admire and take them on as role models. I have many people who I consider mentors who live on the other side of the world or are long dead. Choose wisely.

I knew I was entering a very saturated market, and understood quickly that I would need to differentiate myself. In the early days I was slightly apologetic for not having a background in fashion. Now I know that quite often being from the outside is the strongest position possible. It’s better to be the craftsperson in a fashion design setting and the designer in the world of the handmade.

Find a crew, build a gang. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, especially from those in the same boat. To follow that metaphor … I recently opened my first shop and a friend joked I had a ‘flagship store’ . Of course a ‘flag ship’ is the lead vessel in a fleet, and I can only imagine having a single location. I feel at times like a man paddling his little canoe up stream. Form an armada of fellow canoeists.

Once, during a particularly tough time in the early stages my mother asked me “Is there a point when you call it a day?”. My honest response came instantly. ”Never.” Having realised that this is what I want to do and I’m sticking at it, it somehow took the pressure off my expectations of timescale. If this takes me years, it takes years, but it will happen.

My big focus in the early days was to develop my technical skills rather than develop the business side. Whilst I always knew I was aiming high (and so had, and still have, a long way to go), I believe now that I was too hesitant to start offering my work and approaching potential customers. As a self-taught craftsperson, the danger is you keep delaying the moment at which you can say ‘I’m ready’ and never get to a point where your work is in front of people.

Prior to setting up the label I worked as a Tree Surgeon, which is perhaps an unusual background for a handbag designer. The moment at which I decided to ‘make a go of it’ was when I found myself, 100 foot up a tree day-dreaming about the mechanics of handbag closures. Something, clearly, had to give. I think it’s fair to say I learnt as much from this work as I did at Art School. The focus in tree work is not only the condition of the tree as the job is finished, but how it will develop in the upcoming years. There’s a clear parallel in my own work now: I want my customers to be more satisfied with their new handbag as the years go on.

I work mostly from my small space in Fitzrovia, which combines a showroom and workshop. I can show both sides of the process: the craft and the finished items. Of course, as a one-man operation, the challenge is how to maintain focus on the work whilst welcoming new interest. An ongoing balancing act.

Mark Tallowin runs his own one-man label, specialising in hand-stitched leather handbags, all made to commission. Mark graduated in Fine Art and History of Art from Goldsmiths in 2006. He won the Leathersellers/Cockpit Award in 2014.

TALLOWIN: Mark TallowinDesigner marktallowin.co.uk @tallowiin


Mellor Ware: Lianne Mellor Illustrator & designer mellorware.co.uk @MellorWare

I studied architecture, and had been selling my illustrations at markets while I studied. I graduated in 2009, and with the recession having a great impact on architectural jobs, I gave myself 12 months to do something with my illustrations.

I have a very busy brain, most of the time it’s great but sometimes it gets a bit bunged up with ideas and tasks. Before I start drawing a new range I will create lots of spider diagrams. It really helps to keep the ideas flowing and write everything down so you can reference it later. If I’m in a real block I’ll try something completely unrelated, like paper maché or making little clay figures. Sometimes it’s good to take a side step from what you usually do as it means you are less afraid of getting it wrong.

Usually it comes down to drawing things that make me smile. If I giggle while I’m drawing it I know I’m onto something.

Do one thing well first, there is no point trying to do everything at once, you will wear yourself out. Once you have got the hang of the one thing, and built up some recognition with it, start to add to your product offering.

I rent a studio space in a Yorkshire Artspace building in Sheffield. It’s on the top floor and has a great view of the city. Being based in Sheffield has been instrumental in growing my business. Sheffield has a history of being industrious, supportive and hardworking. It’s something that lives in the city and is infectious, even to outsiders.

Lianne combines watercolour illustrations with products to create a range of ‘useful things that tell stories.’ Her quirky ceramic mugs, tea towels and cards sell through Liberty, House of Fraser, Anthropologie, Not On The High Street and many more shops across the UK and abroad. She graduated in 2009 from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA Hons in Architecture.

My family has played a huge part in making me who I am today. My Nana Penny was the one who taught me to use watercolours when I was younger. We used to go to her house every Friday after school and would paint landscapes and eat biscuits. My mum taught me to use a sewing machine, which has spurred my interest in dressmaking, and my dad would always make up stories and plan treasure hunts to feed my imagination. At school I was advised not to study Art at GCSE because I wasn’t good enough, so the style of my drawings and the narrative I create for them is just something that comes naturally to me.

Michael Ruh & Natasha Wahl Glass designers michaelruh.com @Michael_Ruh

Michael Ruh Studio designs and makes a range of glass tableware, vases and lighting, which sells to shops such as the Conran Shop, Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman. The studio produces a range of bespoke glassware for Calvin Klein flagship stores, which is sold online in the US. They took part in the Crafts Council Injection programme in 2013, and Walpole Crafted in 2014

Art school was a totally immersive experience. I had full time studio access to the painting, sculpture, and metal studios. The assumption was we were artists, and we were expected to work hard. It felt suddenly grown-up and I had the feeling that this was the place I was at ease. I could communicate.

When you do get a lead, it doesn’t mean it’s in the bag. It’s a long process. You need to be patient. Ask questions when you are unsure when dealing with industry, especially about what their expectations are when you design something for them. Who’s gonna pay for what? What’s your commission? What do you have to deliver? Creative lawyers usually provide cost-free consultation before you use their services. Be prepared for your meeting; have questions ready, and email them contracts or questions beforehand to maximise their limited time. Be upfront about what you don’t understand. Don’t be afraid to ask to slow things down a bit if the legal stuff is going over your head. It’s really important you understand it.

What they couldn’t teach us was that making a living as an artist, or from your craft means you have a business, and that you are a business person. I thought I never wanted to be a business person. I’ve realised though that being a business person among other things entails being a good communicator, and being able to build relationships.

Honestly, there’s little a recent graduate can effectively contribute in terms of assisting in the glass studio. I am aware of that, and that’s okay if the placement demonstrates a willingness to learn. I’m not expecting someone to be ‘finished’ at graduation. Graduation is when it begins all over again, and you really start learning. It’s when reality kicks in. Day-to-day-floor-sweeping-tea-making-washing-up-reality. I am interested to learn what a placement has to offer us. It’s usually something involving computer skills, rendering, or photo-shop. Or maybe language or cultural expertise. I try to trade expertise for expertise. I am interested more in a person’s willingness and adaptability, their capability to absorb and maintain information, and if they are articulate than a slick portfolio.

How to we build credibility? Do what you promise. Say what you can’t do. Keep your clients informed. If you’ve just had a disaster making their order, tell them. That doesn’t mean they won’t freak out, but you CAN resolve it.

Being at a trade show is work, not a talent show. Buyers are looking at your ‘product’ and deciding nearly instantly if they can sell it. It’s not personal.

I haven’t found that it gets any easier: less-roller-coastery. I’ve grown more accustomed to the long hours, uncertainty and the ups and downs. Confidence? It comes with experience, and that you just have to gain. You are dealing with people, not deities.

Business is about talking to people. Talk. Be sincere. Take people seriously. For ten years we’ve attended trade shows where we meet many of our clients. We still work for our very first client, who we met 15 years ago. Now we get more people coming to us.

When I am busy that’s also often a time when ideas come fast, nearly continuously. I have chalkboards on a number of walls in the workshop. I will draw an idea immediately when I think of it so I don’t lose it. That way

I can trace the evolution of the idea too. I photograph

the chalkboards before I wipe them clean.


Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you SHOULD. Learning to delegate tasks so you can do what you’re best at is really important.

I have a big whiteboard that’s split into 3 sections: have-to-do, nice-to-do, Fires. Fires are things that aren’t necessarily what your business ‘does’ but if you don’t do them your business will burn down, things like annual returns and chasing payments go here. Have-to-do’s are probably the important things that you’re putting off. Nice-to-do’s are things you’d choose to do in an ideal world, and probably what outsiders think you do all day, like new designs and taking cute pictures. I try and start my day with HTDs, then treat myself to NTDs. Try and keep fires off your board because these are the things you lose sleep over, and sleep is really important.

Textile artist, designer and colour consultant. Ptolemy is known for her colour, Ikat, hand-dyed and woven textile artworks. In 1995 she graduated from Central St Martins, and in 1997 from the Royal College of Art. She has worked for a mixture of domestic and corporate clients and architects, including NHS, Ercol, P&O, Hilton Hotels, Chatsworth House.

Ptolemy Mann Textiles ptolemymann.com significantcolour.com @ptolemymann

I have found it essential to work away from home. So much better to keep work and home separate (for me – not for everyone). I enjoy getting up and going to work each day. Space is such a luxury – I have learnt to make do with fairly small studio spaces in the past. I now live outside of London so find the rural nature of where my studio is a real joy. Clears the head!

It is essential to find your USP. It’s crucial. You must be original. Be selective and discerning about what you are good at. Listen. People will respond when the work is good. They will tell you what your USP is. Sometimes we focus on what we think is good, without listening to our customers. It’s about getting the balance right: you must also like what you are doing.

The artist Roger Dean told me at 18 years old to learn a skill. I never forgot it.Learn a specific skill – master it – then you can apply the methodology and discipline to other aspects of your business. Craft in particular teaches you about process and that knowledge can be applied to many things (including life!)

Paying the mortgage or rent has always been a pretty simple motivation for me. If you have decided to make your living from your design/craft then you have to work hard and keep going, whether you like it or not. Set goals that have to be achieved. Strict work ethic is essential if you want to make it a success.

It’s very important to do something you absolutely LOVE. If you don’t like what you do then no one else will. It’s not about being arrogant and loving yourself but about loving what you do

– enthusiasm is infectious and it will rub off on your customers. Positive enthusiasm has got me a long way.

At Art School I learnt a real skill, a craft. So important to be skilled and have the technical knowhow. I also was lucky enough to have one day a week of colour theory throughout my first year of BA. Absolutely crucial. Not enough students understand colour theory.

I went straight to my studio the day after graduating. For me it was essential to get on with it IMMEDIATELY. I just wanted (and had) to get going. I think if I had taken time off after graduation I would have lost momentum. The sooner you learn that art and creativity is a job like any other, the easier it is later on. You have to get up and go to the studio every day, every morning as routine .... otherwise it will never become a successful business.

Rachael is well-known for her colourful and fun surface pattern designs and the ground-breaking online course ‘The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design’ for Make it in Design. She has a number of successful licensed collections for brands such as DENY Designs, Graham and Brown, Hallmark and teNeues. In 2014 her first book ’20 Ways To Draw A Doodle’ was published. In 2009 she was awarded the title of ‘The Happiest Person in Britain’. She graduated in 2005 with a BA Hons in Textile and Fashion Design from The University of Leeds.

Rachael Taylor Surface pattern designer rachaeltaylordesigns.co.uk @rachael_taylor_

Early on in my career I accepted a lot of freelance bookings, which meant I needed to travel to someone else’s studio. I learnt so much that way, it was truly invaluable. Nowadays I prefer to work at home and in the evenings a lot of the time (especially since having a little boy). I do love the freedom that my work brings. I’m now based in Liverpool, but I can connect with e-course students and clients from all around the world.

I had a fantastic art teacher at high school who really nurtured me and spotted my talent for art and design. She believed in me and really helped me on my journey to follow the right path. At university we were always pushed to explore and experiment, it was through their more relaxed method that my signature style started to develop. I wasn’t really taught anything on the business side of things and we only explored the basics of Adobe Photoshop, as screen-printing was still the most popular method for surface design at the time.

My creative approach has definitely evolved over the years. During university I was a screen printer mainly and also specialised in machine embroidery. As technology changed dramatically I too had to evolve, using the computer more. My work is a lot more commercial now but through the hand-drawn, layering, spontaneous techniques that I use it definitely echoes some of my earlier mixed media pieces.

I’ve made mistakes. There have been highs and lows but I wouldn’t actually change a thing. Every stepping stone has got me to where I am today and I’ve enjoyed the rollercoaster journey.

Try not to worry too much and just enjoy the journey. I’ve always been very ambitious and hard on myself at times. I do thrive under pressure but I needed to be a lot kinder to myself and stop feeling guilty for days off.

Balancing life and work is something that I have found really difficult but I’m getting better with it. Nowadays I try to make sure I have at least one proper full day off once a week where I completely ignore my studio, emails and social media. Recently I switched my emails off on my iPhone and it was the best thing I ever did. I try and give myself perspective - I’m not a Doctor on call so when I am off I really do try and switch off. If I rest and go out I’m much happier and productive at work in the long run.


Studio Levien is a ceramic design studio specialising in functional, affordable and beautiful tableware and bathroom products. Robin designed ‘trend’ tableware for Rosenthal/Thomas in the early 1980s, it is still a best seller today. One in 7 homes in the UK has one of Robin’s designs for Ideal Standard in their bathroom. Robin graduated in 1976 from the Royal College of Art, and is a RSA Royal Designer for Industry, and a Senior Fellow of the RCA.

Studio Levien: Robin Levien Ceramic designer studiolevien.com @StudioLevien

I sold most of my degree show work when I graduated from Central St Martins in 1973. I sold nothing when I graduated from the RCA in 1976. That was a wakeup call.

My advice to my recently-graduated-self would be: Be a bit more humble. I told Terence Conran in a design meeting that I didn’t think one of his ideas was very ‘Habitat’. His response was “Fuck off Levien”

Running a business is a continuing evolution. The time to look for new work is when you are busy. That’s hard, because you would rather be doing the creative stuff, but when the project you are working on is finished you need another one.

Like most other creative people I hate promoting myself. Try to avoid ‘cold calling’; it is always better to have a contact, to be able to say ‘so-and-so suggested I get in touch’. Never write to ‘Dear Sir or Madam’. Contact less people, but do more research so you contact the right person and know something about them and what they do. When you approach prospective clients, what you are after is a meeting. It usually takes around a year between a first contact and actually doing a project.

Tomorrow is always more like today than you might think. Computers have changed the world of art, design and craft profoundly. Now in particular Rapid Prototyping moving into Rapid Manufacturing. Through computers everyone can design and produce graphics now, but there are still graphic designers, and they are still using Helvetica.

It’s not a good idea to work for nothing, try to get paid at least a small amount and you will get the respect you deserve.

I worried that I didn’t know enough about designing for the marketplace, but most of the people I worked for were happy to teach me. Don’t underestimate how much help people are willing to give you.

The best way to find your signature style is not to look for it. Everybody has their own style whatever they do. Just work hard to be good at what you do and let the style look after itself.

The Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala has always been an inspiration for me. He designed through model making, which is what we do at Studio Levien.

Stick to what you believe in and if you find yourself grumbling too much, move on.

I had been in a Partnership for 20 years before setting up Studio Levien with my wife Patricia Stainton in 1999. It was time to go it alone and even though I had a lot of experience as a designer I was very nervous about it.

My graduation show at the RCA was with two designers who left the previous year. I was a ceramics guy and they were interior designers, which made the work more interesting. Collaborations between different disciplines can be very stimulating and produce innovative work.

Sarah Hamilton designs prints, cards, woodblocks and homewares in striking, contemporary colours. Her work has a Mid-Century/Scandinavian reference though are strongly influenced by British countryside and natural forms. She graduated from Central St Martins.

Sarah Hamilton Artist & designer sarahhamiltonprints.com @SarahHamiltonPS

I was asked recently what I was most proud of within my career as a designer/maker. Without hesitation I’d say it is developing a style which is immediately recognisable as mine. You need to question your influences and direction and strive to be honest with yourself as to what it is you really want to make. Don’t be influenced by fads or what seems popular at the moment.

The emphasis at art college was on student’s personal development as an artist/designer. No time was spend on teaching business or how to market your work once you left college. This is often seen as a negative, but there are resources nowadays for graduates to get this information. It is far harder to find discussion on your development as an artist so make the most of this time and seek out business resources when you leave college and are ready for this.

The most important thing to realise is that you’re very unlikely to ‘be discovered’ and sail off into design superstardom! One or two people may design something that turns into a huge hit, the rest keep working away with successes and failures on a daily basis. If you keep positive and work extremely hard you’ll one day wake up and realise you’re actually an Artist and Designer.

My studio is in my house and, having had numerous shared studios, I much prefer to work at home. I need the flexibility of being able to work at all hours. I also have an unusual house reflecting my interests and aesthetic, which is often used in press editorial shoots to promote my work. Even if you’re renting and at the beginning of your career your studio space and/or home can tell an interesting story about who you are - all of which defines you.

It’s important to do your research before approaching a retailer. I went to the stores I wanted to work with and assessed their ranges, taking into consideration the price, style and quality of products similar to mine. Then I developed a series of designs which worked together as a cohesive collection, but also complimented their existing ranges. This demonstrates to the buyer that you’ve the ability to adapt your designs to fit in with their vision, but also have the clarity to remain true to your own style.

Social Media has helped me grow my business enormously. If you don’t use it you’re missing one of the most significant marketing tools available to you.

ALWAYS take email addresses from anyone who buys your work. Many of your customers will become regular buyers. My clients enjoy following and investing in my career and it’s a privilege to develop long term relationships with them.

Remember: you’ll get leads which come to nothing. Countless opportunities will fail to come to fruition. It’s the same for everyone; move on fast and don’t dwell on negatives. I can honestly, hand on heart, say that these challenges have often made me more determined.


Although I had a good professional education I didn’t learn much about the realities of the work environment. It was assumed you would learn this by experience as you went along. In fact this is exactly what happened. I made loads of mistakes and I learned from them as anyone would. Looking back, most of these things you can’t learn effectively in college anyway, so I wouldn’t change a thing.

When I graduated, I had loads of ideas and was very keen to start working for myself. However, I was also offered a job working in a design company. You can imagine how torn I was between the secure career route and the risky personal direction. Retrospectively, I made the right choice but it could easily have gone very wrong.

My creative process varies from project to project. Sometimes a solution comes quickly whilst in the shower, another time I might struggle for weeks to come up with something I’m happy with. I find anything can trigger an idea. The trick is not to look too hard for it.

Running a business was tough at the beginning. It still is. Perhaps for different reasons, but never the less it is. During my 25 year career I have been close to giving up design a few times, but in the end I think it is the pleasure of seeing my ideas become reality that keeps me going.

I think it is important not to try too hard to attract attention with your work. Any conscious act to stand out from the crowd with the way you design can easily get a negative response. Do what comes naturally and do it the best you can. Once you have good work that you are proud of then tell the world about it.

I’m not sure I have a ‘signature style’ it is certainly not something I think about. If I do then it is something observed by others retrospectively in my work. I always try and approach each project with fresh eyes, creating the project that is best for my client and the context of the project. This approach occasionally results in projects that I’m told are surprising or don’t seem like my work. What is important to me is that my client is happy with the result even if it inconsistent with other people’s idea of my ‘style’. It is a question of priority. I believe a designer’s job is to put himself second to the success of the project.

The advice I would give anyone starting out is to do the things you want to do most, take the biggest risks you sensibly can and go for it 200%.

When I left the RCA in 1990 I set up my own studio pretty much right away. I had one small industrial client in Hong Kong and did whatever I could for friends and friends of friends. The rest of my time I did self-produced projects that I tried to sell.

The first project I did that had some success started as a self-production project. It was a super simple lamp shade that clipped onto any hanging light bulb. It was acid etched out of flat stainless steel and I sold it by post in an envelope. It somehow got published a fair bit and has ended up with a few awards and included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Design Museum in London.

Sebastian Bergne is renowned for making everyday objects special with his essential and human approach to design. He has designed for a wide range of manufacturers, including Tefal, Luceplan, The Fat Duck and Tog. He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1990.

Sebastian BergneIndustrial designer sebastianbergne.com @sebastinabergne

Sebastian Cox makes furniture from underused British hardwoods. Wood like coppiced hazel has centuries of associated craft so traditional techniques have a huge presence in his work. He has won the Wood Award for outstanding design, was shortlisted twice for the Homes & Gardens Young Designer, shortlisted for Elle Decoration Sustainable Product, and selected by Kevin McCloud as one of ‘Kevin’s Green Heroes’. Sebastian graduated in 2010 from Lincoln University.

Sebastian Cox Designer maker sebastiancox.co.uk @sebcoxfurniture

Once I made a wardrobe for a client’s upstairs bedroom but forgot to measure the width of the stairs. I had to cut it in half in the client’s garden. In the rain. ALWAYS MEASURE THE STAIRS!

My university taught me to make, properly. This was my single biggest skill when I graduated, and has been so important for establishing my business. By understanding machines, tools, and timber I was able to not only design products, but cleverly design the process to make sure they were possible to make efficiently. It’s a lot to cram into three years - but it would be great to have been taught more about how to price things!

Follow the people you would like to get work experience with on social media and regularly check their Twitter/Instagram feeds. I posted a picture of an enormous pile of components, a person commented ‘if you ever need any help…’ and the next day Katie was in our workshop and stayed with us for 6 weeks and was one of the most valuable people on our team for that project.

The vision of my business is to use good design and craftsmanship to raise the profile of undervalued, sustainable materials. I’ve always been driven by a passion for making, a love of wood, and a belief that design has a huge role to play in creating a sustainable future. I set strong principles in my first collection, and every business decision today is made around them. My advice to any new designer would be to act with strong principles, and a strong idea of what you are seeking to do.

It’s absolutely essential you identify something about your offering that’s different, and then make the story around that, and the way you deliver that message, very clearly. Even if journalists, buyers, or manufacturers initially know me as ‘the guy that works with trees’, that’s fine - they remember who I am. From there I can go on to reveal the full (clear!) story and embed my business in their memory.

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that the industry isn’t as big and scary as you imagine it will be. It’s amazing how many people know each other, and you’ve got to do your best to be known too. This comes from good (often informal) networking with a clear message, and by being a person that people might want to work with. Many of the designers at the top of our industry are not only good designers, but good people. I think ultimately people like people more than they like objects, so while your work is hugely important, make sure you are not only an approachable and honest person, but give yourself the chance to be noticed.

Under-promise, over-deliver. Be early for deadlines - say 10 weeks and deliver in 8. Tell them stories around the work. I like to give my clients details on where the tree was grown. Delivering pieces yourself helps, people are so used to getting stuff in the post from a bad courier. Deliver and meet them, and stop for a cup of tea if they offer. But most importantly, MEASURE THE STAIRS!


Simone Brewster is known for her statement, luxury furniture and jewellery. Her work stands out for its architectural language and sensitive use of materials and use of scale. She was recently selected by the Crafts Council to take part in Design Days Dubai. She graduated in 2007 from the Royal College of Art.

Simone Brewster Furniture & jewellery designer simonebrewster.co.uk @ simonebrewster

I didn’t find my signature style until after graduation unfortunately. At college I always wanted to make work that was sculptural and expressive, but probably didn’t have the confidence to explore some of the themes. I wasn’t sure how they lived within the world of product design. How did I get over this? Once I graduated I gave myself the permission to do what I wanted.

Art school taught me how to be adaptable. I would often have to respond quickly to different briefs and come up with relevant creative solutions. As well as this I would usually be working on more than one project at a time, so good time management had to be developed. We would also have to present these ideas to a highly informed panel, so public speaking, presentation and conveying your idea clearly were key skills.

What art school didn’t teach me was how to run a business! Making an idea profitable, getting it to market, understanding who and where your market was and how to get their attention. And then how to continue to grow and branch out without losing your existing audience. I guess these could each be MA’s in their own right!

I take inspiration from my background and my locality. Living in London is really a gift when it comes to culture. Saying this, I don’t believe in waiting for inspiration. The real trick is allocating time to seek it out yourself. I timetable

“research time”, when I am focused on looking, and finding inspiration. I know what I’m interested in and have key words and topics which I research and seek to become a mini-expert on. I save relevant images and read interesting books on these subject areas. If I don’t timetable this process into my week, it either won’t happen for blocks of time, or I will become totally absorbed and it will eat too much time out of my week.

What came out was something far less playful than the work I made previously, but instead a far more confident and distinct style immerged. More mature in its use of materials and form. My creative process became a means of having my values live in my work.

My first client came off the back of doing Origin, the craft fair at Somerset House in 2008. I was showing my first collection of jewellery with a line of sculptural furniture. Nothing big happened at the show. However, months later I was contacted by someone who wanted me to make a bespoke version of one the items I had shown.

What I have learnt about marketing is that consistency combined with knowing what you are comfortable doing, is key. Choose a medium to communicate with your audience, be it Instagram, mail outs, phone calls… the form in which you communicate doesn’t matter. The fact is that you need to do it and keep doing it is.

People like working with active and dedicated individuals. If you are able to give them confidence that you are one of these people, they might just be more likely to choose to work with you next time a relevant project comes up.

You will have several knock backs. If you’re serious about making a career in the creative industries, get tough but stay kind.

Product photography by Luke Andrew Walker

Simon Pengelly is a furniture and product designer who has worked with brands such as Arper, Hitch Mylius, Montis, Foscarini etc but also retailers such as Habitat. He has won the Compasso d’Oro in 2011 - Italy’s top design award for the Nuur table designed for Arper. He graduated from Kingston Polytechnic in 1988.

Simon Pengelly Industrial designer simonpengelly.com @pengellydesign

I work in Brixton, South London. It’s a lovely chilled space that we designed for ourselves very close to Brixton Village. We’ve spent years in Wandsworth but we’ve just moved to Brixton which is lively and about as multicultural as you could get ... very exciting and inspirational.

My style found me, or rather it was always with me until one day I realised it was there! If it could be said I have a signature style it is derived more from the approach to the process, rather than being defined by a visual style or fashion. I think the secret is not to force a style and realise it will evolve organically if you are true to your approach to the process.

Now more than ever it is important to know your USP and understand how it sets you apart. That insight enables you to contextualise and make it work for you and your clients. For me it was my practical training and how that has shaped my approach to problem solving and the design process. Understand yourself and your clients, and work will come.

You have to be passionate about the process and how you get to enrich people’s lives if you do it properly ... the passion for your work will keep you from loneliness and confidence will come in time!

Understand, respect and like your clients ... provide a personal service. And above all enjoy the work that you do for them, because it will show if you don’t!

I worked for Conran Design group after graduating, and two years later was made redundant, jumping ship to Habitat. When I was made redundant for a second time in 1993 I decided I’d had enough, so started my own business! I continued to work freelance for Habitat whilst developing my own range of furniture with the aim of either marketing them myself or licensing the designs to manufacturers.

The experience at Habitat was invaluable as I was immersed in the design and development of the furniture range which meant travelling to manufacturers all over the world...you learn how to work with manufactures and understand their point of view!

My advice to my recently-graduated-self? Learn to listen to your gut feelings!

Habitat was my first client and over the years I’ve designed hundreds of pieces for them. However my favourite piece is the Radius range, briefed by Tom Dixon. Radius has a timelessness that comes from the honest expression of solid wood and the joints used in its construction, emphasising the inherent craft values that make the range so popular. Launched in 2000, Radius very quickly became Habitat’s best-selling furniture range and remains so today. That couldn’t have been predicted, and it continues to reinforce to me the value of quiet design with a lack of designer ego and a mind set on interpreting the needs and desires of the user ... furniture with soul.

You can’t do it on your own ... In my case it has been my wife Teri who supported me through the hard times, and even when I was working all hours and bringing in next to nothing she kept the faith, never suggesting I go out and get a ‘proper’ job. Beyond doubt Teri’s commitment and sacrifice is at least equal to mine.


Tatty Devine: Rosie Wolfenden MBE & Harriet Vine MBE Jewellers tattydevine.com @tattydevine

Tatty Devine are known for their original, playful jewellery, handmade in Britain. They push the boundaries of working with acrylic and other materials to create exciting, innovative jewellery that starts conversations. The highlight of their 16 year career is being awarded MBE’s for Services to the Fashion Industry. They also won Accessories Business of the Year at UKFT’s Natwest Fashion and Textile Awards in 2013.

We both graduated from a painting course at Chelsea College of Art in 1999. We had such amazing tutors - real artists who’ve won the Turner Prize. It gave us this sense that success wasn’t for someone else, but for people you knew.

The start of Tatty Devine happened by chance when Harriet found bin bags full of leather sample books that had been thrown in the street. They were all just about the right size to make wristbands in every colour, so we set up a studio in our bedrooms and started selling handmade cuffs at Portobello and Spitalfields markets.

Our first market stall was in July and by Christmas we had to give up the market because we were suddenly selling to Harvey Nichols, Urban Outfitters and Whistles. At the same time Rosie was working in a vintage shop on the Kings Road and was approached by a stylist who asked where the jewellery she was wearing was from. Rosie said, “My company made it” then was asked to bring the collection into Vogue on Monday morning. We ended up being featured in Vogue’s Millennium edition, which included photographs by Mario Testino. It was a very, very quick process – we learnt everything we know from the market because you learn at the grassroots: from dealing with customers, products, wholesale, through to competition.

The fashion calendar always helps us plan ahead, because when you are constantly designing 6-9 months ahead it means you are forced to think about everything that far in advance as well. Business plans are useful because unless you know where you want to get to it is near impossible to choose your route to getting there. Running a business is a long journey with lots of stop offs along the way, and each part needs to be carefully planned.

Our creative process always starts with a conversation between us both. We chat about what we are currently fascinated by and things that have sparked ideas in us. These conversations are annotated by Harriet who then goes away and starts drawing up the ideas and thinking through techniques to create our dream pieces. This is still true of how we work today.

Being a team of two has certainly helped to make everything possible. From early on Harriet focused on product and I focused on the sales and operational side. Harriet makes things and I make things happen. We have always combined our social life with our work life and now we have families we make sure to balance all three.

HWJ: I think I was probably one of the first exhibitors at The New Designers Exhibition back in 1988 on graduating from Central St Martins. When exhibiting for the second time on leaving the RCA, I was lucky enough to be awarded The Worshipful Company of Weavers prize, presented to me by Neil Kinnock. It was an enormous boost, which really helped when setting up the studio and buying initial vital equipment.Apart from being lucky enough to meet Peta Levi whose positiveness and encouragement over the years was unfailing, it was also the beginning of a close and very important relationship with The Worshipful Company of Weavers. I now have the honour of being a Liveryman of the Company myself.

I always thought I wanted to work within the textile industry, but Britain was in a recession in 1990 hence jobs were scarce and Emma persuaded me to share a studio, if for nothing else than supporting each other and brainstorming about our futures. We started teaching, travelled abroad to sell samples, visited design studios and generally researched all avenues for potential work. Ironically, when I did eventually get offered a position, I turned it down, realising that Emma and I had come a long way since college. We both received Craft Council Setting Up grants, which lead to exhibiting at Chelsea Crafts Fair, which was our launch pad.

Trade fairs have proven invaluable to Wallace Sewell. In the beginning, we would often make the mistake of trying too many, which apart from being expensive, can be damaging to your profile if they prove a disaster and so we never exhibit unless the show has been tried and tested by other designers whose product we can identify with.

Our model, like The Bauhaus, has been to design on our hand looms and use industrial looms to batch produce a small production run. This has allowed us to keep the price affordable and to supply a selection of outlets at home and abroad.

Over the years, we tended to be reactive to clients seeking us out, or being approached by potential customers and buyers. It hasn’t been until more recently that we’ve become much more proactive and constantly giving ourselves a little shake as it were! We’ve recently moved into fabric by the metre, which was an enormous leap forward for us, working on large scale furnishing ideas instead of smaller units, such as scarves.

I feel very strongly that if possible, work with someone else but if this isn’t for you, then at least share a space or work within a studio. The leap from a busy, noisy student cohort to a solitary existence is very intimidating so choose the working environment that will suit your needs.

Wallace Sewell designs and produces innovative woven scarves, throws and fabric by the metre. They recently designed the

‘Moquestte’ fabric for the London Underground. They won the New Designers Textile Prize in 1990, and The Worshipful Company of Weavers Silver Medal Award for their contribution to woven textile design. They both studied BA Textiles at Central St Martins, and went to the Royal College of Art.

Wallace Sewell: Harriet Wallace-Jones & Emma SewellTextiles designers wallacesewell.com @wallacesewell

It’s important to have a goal, an aim and a strong design story, but be prepared to move sideways if necessary. Allow yourself to take on challenges and not dig your heals in. Be flexible without compromising your ideas. Be eclectic, it’s more fun and interesting as you never know where it will lead you.


Designed by Guy Sextyguysexty.com

http://guysexty.com

30 DESIGNERS REVEAL THE SECRETS OF THEIR SUCCESS

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