Tag: British design

Designer Desire: Clare Youngs

Montage of Portrait of Clare Youngs designs

Clare Youngs is a British textile artist, collage maker, paper artist and workshop leader.

We can see echoes of Kenneth Townsend, David Klein and Hornsea Pottery newsprint mugs in her fabulous designs – no wonder we were drawn to her work.

When asked who and what inspires her, she responded:

Vintage Children’s books, particularly those published in the 60s and 70s. I like the work of Brian Wildsmith and Roger Duvoisin, Alice and Martin Provensen an American couple who illustrated more than 40 children’s books together. Mostly between the late 1940s and the 1960s.

Based in Broadstairs, Kent, Clare is also the author of many craft books. Buy her cards, prints, jigsaws and original collages from her online shop.

Portrait of Clare Youngscredit

Additional image credits © Clare Youngs

Designer Desire: William Plunkett

Montage of William Plunkett furniture designs

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/may/15/william-plunkett

William Plunkett (1928 – 2013) was born in India, moving to Britain in 1946 to join the Royal Artillery. After leaving the army in 1959, he attended Kingston School of Art to study basic design, furniture design and sculpture. After a stint working for A. and R. Duckworth Ltd (Aidron Duckworth had been a tutor at college), he founded William Plunkett Ltd in 1963. By 1977, he had sold William Plunkett Ltd to Giroflex, setting up Plunkett Plan Ltd the following year.

His upmarket designs retailed in department stores such as Heal’s and Liberty. His modernist pieces furnished embassies and leisure, business and retail outlets; including IBM, Russell & Bromley, Clarks, Ravel, Peter Lord and a bar on the QE2.

He was a multiple winner of Council of Industrial Design (CoID) awards. He won twice in 1968 for his Reigate rocking chair (seen top left in the above montage) and his Coulsdon coffee table (bottom right).

Reflecting on his long career, he revealed:

My generation of designers were idealists. We really believed we could make a difference to Britain by producing well-designed products.

Vintage examples of Plunkett’s furniture designs are available on 1stDibs and Etsy. Alternatively, twentytwentyone have reissued some of his designs.

Portrait of William Plunkettcredit

Additional image credits:
Artnet | Bonhams | Bukowskis |

Designer Desire: Yinka Ilori

Montage of Yinka Illori designs

Here’s an uplifting riot of colour to brighten your mood! It’s all brought to you courtesy of the British Nigerian artist and designer, Yinka Ilori.

He has collaborated widely – on outdoor public art, indoor décor, fashion, sport and homeware projects; working with numerous partners including Meta, The Conran Shop, Selfridges the V&A, the Red Cross and Lick. He’s been very busy of late.

Ilori is currently the official Artist in Residence for Heart of Hale, a new mixed use property project in London. During his residency, he’ll create a range of designs from permanent street furniture to temporary wall art. He has an upcoming exhibition at the Design Museum in summer 2022. A range of Fitflop footwear decorated with his signature designs is being launched in the summer. He received an MBE in 2021.

Shop his work on his web shop and check out more of his eye-popping work on his Insta.

(Nigeria) influences my work through my colour palette, my love of patterns and traditional Nigerian embellishments. It also influences my work through my use of traditional Nigerian folklore, which turns into words of wisdom that’s embedded within my design. My British heritage is also mixed in with my use of minimalistic lines and silhouettes, which is then mixed with my very loud and expressive use of colour, which comes from my Nigerian heritage. There’s a mixture of different influences that shaped me and made me the designer I am today. via Luxury London

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Designer Desire: Harry Riley

Montage of Harry Riley travel posters

Harry Riley (1895-1966) was a watercolourist, cartoonist and commercial artist. However, he was best known for designing travel posters to English & Welsh seaside destinations for British Railways.

London-born Riley attended Hammersmith and St. Martin’s Schools of Art. He cut his teeth in Fleet Street where, as a junior artist, he created cartoons for inclusion in the Daily Mail, Punch and other publications. Later, he was commissioned to create figurative works for the likes of luxury department stores, Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges.

He was elected member of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour and, in the late 1920s, president of The London Sketch Club.

His advertising posters are all 50s Technicolour with smiling, happy, healthy couples and families. All blonde bobs and pigtails. Summer dresses, swimsuits and cravats. Bright blue skies, sweeping golden sands and azure seas.

Harry Riley self-portraitcredit

Additional image credits:
Travel Posters Online