Surface Design Show, the UK’s leading event for architects and designers to explore the best in surface material innovation, is getting ready to welcome over 120 exhibitors to its 2022 show, including over 35 confirmed New Talents.
In partnership with Canon UK and curated by Trendease International’s Jennifer Castoldi, the New Talent exhibitors will feature a wide range of start-up designers, all brought together to exhibit for the first time. Jennifer and her team travel to over 100 design events each year, seeking out the most innovative and dynamic designs. The class of ‘22 has been sourced from showrooms, trade fairs, exhibits and design shows in major design capitals, and new talents from the Netherlands, Singapore and Spain will be participating.
Surface Design Show and Canon UK are dedicated to supporting the New Talent showcased in this important and increasingly popular sector of the show. Derek Joys, product marketing manager at Canon UK, comments: “We are delighted to be partnering with the New Talent section of Surface Design Show, and to have the opportunity to work with such talented new global designers. From wallcoverings to textiles, digital printing plays a hugely important part in interior decor – we hope that through our involvement, we can pass on expert knowledge which will help these individuals to thrive in the future.”
Among the New Talent designers for 2022 visitors will find surfaces using fruit waste, tiles using waste materials, a celebration of British wool, and lighting using wood veneer.
Designer Ellie Preece will bring her Kitchen Archives project to the show, an exploration of biomaterials with the goal being to create alternative packaging. Ellie’s biomaterials have been produced using various fruits, many of which can be sourced from fruit waste. The results are an edible packaging material, along with a material that can be used in place of plastics.
Emily Hatton’s work consists of a collection of 3D tiles that are made using a combination of techniques including laser cutting and hand construction, with elements of laser etch and digital print that incorporate subtle pattern into the designs. Some of the tiles have then been further developed by mouldmaking and casting with an eco-resin (Jesmonite) and waste materials. Each waste material is able to offer a unique surface texture to the resin. The 3D tiles can be applied to a range of applications including luxury wall panelling, unque wall art and adornments for furniture design.
Introduced for the first time to the New Talent section will be a lighting design by Chloe Hook. Developed using veneer, the design celebrates the beauty of nature and the importance of it in any environment. Chloe chooses to work with wood because of its primitive familiarity, warmth of colour and its sustainability credentials.
Textile designer Cara Tomi will introduce her project, The Psychology of Mandalas. The mandala is a spiritual symbol from the Buddhist faith – a sacred, circular, symmetrical pattern that can be understood in two different ways: externally as a visual representation of the universe; or internally as a guide for several practices that take place in many Asian traditions, including meditation.
The prints are made using the traditional Japanese technique of shibori (stich resist) combined with the contemporary application of structure and form through mandalas breathing new life into traditional designs.
Louisa Knapp of Knapp Textiles will showcase her textiles while championing British wool. After watching the documentary Kiss the Ground, the important role sheep can play when implemented in a regenerative farming system highlighted their ability to aid carbon sequestration into the earth’s soil, reversing the effects of climate change.
For Louisa this was unforgettably inspiring. Therefore, she aimed to investigate how wool could play a significant role in this regenerative period in the country’s economic and ecological reconfiguration.
Design enthusiasts are invited to discover this New Talent, along with enjoying some well-known, respected ones on 8-10th February 2022 at the Business Design Centre, London.
