An Eco-Friendly Project

Happy St. Patty's Day, everyone! And in the spirit of being green, thought I'd take a little turn and discuss an issue that any designer or crafter should be aware of.

The past few years, I’m really intrigued by the effort people have made to help the environment. Such schemes have not only made the public more aware, but made recycling trendy! Look at companies such as Good One, upcycling old clothes without making them too hippie like.

Last December, an article ran in the the Sunday Times Style magazine on alternatives to Christmas wrapping-methods like spray-painted brown paper and such, but I was most intrigued by the use of magazine pages. From working in a store during the Christmas season, it’s incredible how much resources are wasted, not to mention so much money wasted. There are so many ways to make the outside of a gift a work of art!

By choosing the right image, with a fun color palette, you can have a brilliant and original way to wrap gifts from magazine pages, such as cover shoots or perfume ads (I myself collect to decorate my closet door). While flipping through the Mark Montano book, I thought of using the same method, but with greeting cards. Montano’s book offers a brilliant template for an envelope with a small plate for a message itself.

With mother’s day, and a couple of birthdays coming up, I make a mock up of Montano’s original outline for the envelope, then went through my stash of magazines until I found a great cover shot for the front of the envelope. I added on two one layers for the inside of the message, one more from a magazine add, but the other out of some bright colored paper.

It’s not a stylist job, but I strongly encourage eco-friendly folk and crafters alike to consider this as an alternative to rushing out for every birthday, anniversary etc. and get another big name greeting card company. 

Terence Conran at the Design Museum

For the past two weeks, my creativity juices haven’t exactly been co-orporative. In fact, since my boss has been sick and I haven’t been in the studio or even working around fashion, they’ve been non-existent. With all this free time, I was desperately trying to feel inspired for a project to pass the time-but no matter how many times I leafed through Tatty Devine’s book or visited my favorite haberdashery hotspots, nothing has really came to mind. 

So I decided to venture out and try something completely new. Today, on a very typical rainy windy day in London, I ventured to a location I’ve never visited-the London Design Museum near Tower Bridge. The space itself has been around for almost forty years now, exhibiting displays from unseen pages of Vogue to up-and-coming interior designers. I was grateful to see the little 'No Flash Photography' sign, allowing me to take these pics-though in general I make it a rule not to. I will never forget what my Art Teacher in High School told me, about how the camera lens has replaced the human eye, and when people see something amazing, they instantly pull out their camera rather than taking in the actual experience of seeing it themselves.

Terence Conran, whose had a longstanding relationship with the museum, was presenting the span of his career. Conran’s career covered a lot of ground, in design as business, from owning a restaurant to opening the famous Habitat chain. He has a brilliant eye for design, but also considers it’s practical elements in business.

I thought this gift tag, designed by Conran aged 13, was so sweet, and already shows his eye for detail. The wonky lines makes it even richer-it reminds me of the little book markers I used to make for friends and family as gifts when I was a kid!

The organic nature of hand-drawing continued throughout his career, including his brief time as a textile designer at Central School. This design I was drawn to because of a color combination I’ve become fascinated by-lime green and lilac purple. In my doll art, I’ve really tried branching out with my palettes, and often draw upon coupling opposites on the color wheel. 

This came up later when, looking at the interior design section of the exhibition, I found a painting-or rather, a pair that were connected to create the image of a woman slipping through a set of sliding doors. With spring, slowly but surely, attempting to make an appearance, I’m intrigued with the idea of doing a project in that minty-green and pastel orange pairing. With my annual trip to Bahamas coming up soon, I’ve been wracking my brain for possible projects to bring along-maybe a cute bag in these shades could be the answer to this!

So, I think I’ve got my creative mojo back!