Feel the Pulse

Returning to the launchpad area of Pulse from the 5th-7th of June. It was great to have a free stand this year, after winning the Liberty Award for best newcomer the year before. As an ‘old pro’ it was great to see familiar faces and new products too.

Rocking the boiler suit; they’re back in.

The night before.

The morning after.

Transformation complete. Thankfully you can’t see the grey paint in my hair!

The all important sweets, for visitors to get there sugar rush as they traipse through the show.

This year, the Drew Low table and Array bowls were selected for the Features Area.

This years Launchpad Award winners were:

Paperself, for best product at Launchpad. I originally saw the paper eyelashes at Maison et Objet in January and loved them then. Visitors were going crazy for them too.

My friend Valentina (another exhibitor) and I were willing models!

Winner for best Newcomer to Launchpad was DesignedMade who was also in Paris this year.

Jonathans newest product is the Tarantula Tea Light, a really rounded product with simple packaging too.

Tamsin Howells Designs; one of my favourite jewellery designers; I’m bias though she’s one of my best friends who graduated from the same degree as me.

Her beautiful and varied work is hand made using selected vintage fabrics, sweet wrappers, stamps. She also uses contemporary fabrics from textiles companies like Wallace Sewell; you can also buy these in the Tate Modern.

Here are some of her newest range using 1970’s ties.

One of my neighbours was Paperboy Wallpaper, who have a modern twist to a boys obsession with animals and dinosaurs.

Below is a detail from ‘Animal Magic’ where the skeleton is revealed as light reflects across the surface.

Elsie Dodds This collection of soft furnishings use the alphabet as inspiration, on one side Upper and Lowercase Letters, and on the reverse things that start with…

M for moose, moth, mountain, moon; you get the idea!  I really like the use of selective pallet, the graphic quality really adds value. You don’t even have to be a child to want one.

Kanez Abdi and a selection of her textiles, which won Best Textiles 2009 at this years hidden Art Awards.

Throughout the show I’d find yet something else I wanted to buy; especially on the Dynasty stand, where I loved the use of material and colour.

 

Also in June I took part in this years Hidden Art Forum which had a range of guest speakers talking about subjects from Selling and Product development. Really interesting my notebook was full of “to do’s” by the end of the day.