Happy Christmas!

 'Happy Christmas' tableware exclusive to David Jones (designed by me!)

Original artwork and design concepts by Lucy King Design

I was doing some Christmas shopping last week, when I came across a display in David Jones of a range of ceramics that I designed last year!  It's always exciting to unexpectedly stumble across designs I've worked on and to see them as finished products.

The 'Happy Christmas' range of ceramic and tabletop items were designed exclusively for David Jones, and created as simple, graphic motifs - rather than my usual hand-painted artwork.  The design features traditional Christmas motifs assembled in a fun layout with a bold colour scheme.  Cute!

Wishing everyone many happy festivities and lots of seasonal cheer!  Merry Christmas!!

Lucy King Design melamine plate collection & online shop!

Watercolour floral plates (clockwise from top left) Audrey, Alice, Grace & polka-dot design Suzie in cherry colourway

Suzie detail

 Vintage tableware designs (clockwise from top left) High Tea, Tea Party & Fancy a Cuppa

Retro graphic florals Mabel in spearmint colourway (left) Mabel in candy colourway (right) and polka-dot design Suzie in mint colourway

Mabel in candy colourway with Suzie in mint colourway, detail

I'm very excited to be able to officially launch my first collection of melamine plate designs, and to finally have my new online shop up and running! 

I've launched the collection with 10 different designs - created to mix and match with each other and to encourage a 'this-goes-with-that' approach.  The range consists of three hand-painted watercolour floral designs (Audrey, Grace and Alice), three vintage ceramic designs (High Tea, Fancy a Cuppa and Tea Party), two retro graphic florals (Mabel in candy colourway or spearmint colourway) and two 1950s-esque polka-dot designs which coordinate with the whole collection.    

The plates are proudly Made in England in small quantities, and are designed to be used and enjoyed for sharing sweet or savoury treats with friends!  Perfect for picnics, bbq's, camping and garden parties etc...... a shame the weather here in Melbourne isn't quite geared up for any of those activities yet!!

You can visit the online shop here: Lucy King Design shop.    

Lottie Loves.....

Oooh I'm very excited today to be featured on the fabulous Lottie Loves blog! 

Lottie Loves is written by the very talented Charlotte Rivers - you may not think you've heard of her, but I'm sure most people will know the book 'Reinventing Letterpress' which was written by Charlotte, and was enormously popular!  Charlotte has also written a number of other books from magazine design and packaging, to logo and poster design.

Each week Lottie Loves profiles and interviews various creative people - and this week it's me!  You can head over to read about my creative background, workspace and daily inspiration etc.  Please excuse the not-so-hot pictures of me working..... must remember to brush my hair in future for photographs!!  See the interview here:

A big thank you to Charlotte for including me and my work in her interview series, I'm very flattered indeed :)

Charlotte also has a website, and another very cute blog called Little Lottie Loves charting her own pregnancy and journey into motherhood, as well as featuring some very cute design orientated products for little people!

Birthday weekend

 My big stash of reference books and some of the latest UK and Australian magazines!

Fab patterns on the inside of envelopes from Kikki K 

Lovely floral patterned wrapping paper from The Wrapping Paper Co.

 'Acanthus' by William Morris and William De Morgan c.1876

 'Seaweed' by John Henry Dearle c.1901

'The Merchant's Daughter' by Edward Burne-Jones c.1864

It was my birthday over the weekend and I had a lovely time catching up with friends and being very spoilt.  I received a big pile of art and design reference books, as well as a stash of UK and Australian home and interior magazines!  I always love having a pile of books and magazines to flick through, so these should keep me busy for a while!

I had some gifts wrapped in this fab wrapping paper from The Wrapping Paper Co, and I'm also loving the patterned inside of envelopes from Kikki K - so much fun to open up a plain envelope and find such happy colours and patterns on the inside!  Very cute.

And how lovely are these stamps from Royal Mail.  The stamps are from a collection called Morris & Company - and feature some of William Morris' designs, as well as some of the most significant designers who worked with the company, founded in 1861.  I was much inspired by William Morris whilst studying Textile Design - his designs are timeless, he created the most amazing intricate repeat patterns, and his design philosophy 'Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful' is a good one to live by!

Designers in Britain - 1947

Advertising posters

Some things don't change after 60 years; posters advertising the benefits of eating vegetables daily for good health, and a current topic about growing your own food rather than shipping in overseas produce.  

Packaging design - I love the stylish simplicity of the graphics used for the butter and biscuit packaging (no nasty product images, primary colours or gimmicky advertising slogans!)

Beautiful script, fonts and embellishments used in these advertisements for women's shoes and apparel shops 

Decorative fonts

Fabulous examples of current domestic furniture!

Some time ago I picked up two old English design books from a second hand shop .  The books were part of a series about Designers in Britain, compiled by the Society of Industrial Arts in order to review the commercial and industrial design being produced in Britain at the time.

This first book showcases the commercial and industrial design from post-war Britain in 1947 and is divided into themes covering posters, advertising and the media, book illustration and cover jackets, packaging, illustration for publicity, lettering and domestic furniture etc.  It's fascinating to look at the designs and graphic arts from this period - not only for the style of the designs and illustrations, but also what was being advertised and publicised at this particular time. 

I'm also captivated by the hand-drawn aesthetic across all sectors of design.  This was a time before the use of digital photography and desk-top publishing, so pretty much everything was created by hand from scratch.  The majority of posters and advertising material, book jackets and illustrations were all created as hand-drawn artworks.  No CAD technology or digital equipment to speed up the process - but painstakingly created with pen and ink.  However, far from being naive or simplistic, I think the designs created in this style are beautifully decorative and often quite sophisticated in comparison to some of today's commercial design. 

Space designs

 

I'm sick :(  I've caught a cold and now developed bronchitis so I'm moping around feeling very sorry for myself.  The good thing is its given me the chance to clear out some of my files and have some time to get organised!  Whilst sorting out some of my files I came across this space design I created a while back.  The design is for a boys bedlinen range with a space theme, with the final product being a mix of printed fabric and applique details.

The design was created on the computer, but I deliberately kept a 'hand-drawn' feel to the design rather than wanting it to look too computer generated.  It was a really fun design to work on with robots, space monsters, rockets, planets and coordinating star motifs, and the images above show some of the designs in development.

Well, I'm off to make myself a hot lemon and honey and back to bed I think!   

Orla Kiely 'Pattern'

I'm still trying to plod my way through my Christmas books, and this lovely book by Orla Kiely has been on my list to share for a while.  The book is called 'Pattern' and is full of fab images of Orla's colourful and fun graphic prints, fashion ranges and bags.  Its also a book I'm enjoying reading, as well as oohing and ahhing over the images. 

The book covers the background of how Orla created her own business, the path she took and how she started out.  I love reading about how other designers have set up a business, what they have learnt from the process, and the highs and lows of running your own creative enterprise.  Its reassuring to know successful brands started out as small businesses, with many of the same problems and hurdles to jump that other small start-ups face. 

The book is divided up into chapters on inspiration, colour, print and home etc, and is punctuated with lots of beautiful photography of her products and designs.  However, it makes me want to go shopping and spend too much money on gorgeous bags.  I LOVE the orange bag above!! 

I love that much of Orla Kiely's design and styling has quite a retro look to it - with many pictures used for brochures shot in old 1950's houses and cafes.  Her clothing range also has a modern-retro aesthetic, with often very simple pieces in stunning colours and her signature bold prints.

I'm such a big fan of the simplicity and graphic nature of Orla's prints and designs.  Yet again I'm drawn to this bold and graphic style of design - which is so different to my own work.  There's something about being attracted to a style of design which is opposite to how I naturally work and create designs, and I'm fascinated by the style and strong brand image she has.  Oooh envy!  

Orla Kiely 'Pattern' published by Conran Octopus, 2010