Inspiration: Sian Xeng

Sian Xeng is a Textile Designer who has created an array of wonderful things, from fabrics and wallpapers to illustrated stuffed bears and we think her work is fantastic! We particularly like her magnetic wallpaper (above) which can be customised and played with, she describes the work as.... 

“Inspired by the changeable nature of fairy tale stories, where frogs can suddenly become princes and princes can become frogs, this work is concerned with visual narratives that can be altered through interaction. I have created a collection of narrative wallpapers that allow users to move magnetic characters on the wallpaper, write on the speech bubbles and place them anywhere they like." Sian Xeng

Her work is playful, fun and beautifully illustrative - be sure to check out her full portfolio it's amazing! 

Inspiration: Andere Monjo

Artist Andere Monjo uses some interesting techniques to get her primary source imagery, such as these pieces above. Painting sheets with ink and leaving them out in the rain. The surfaces she captures are then used to create these wonderful 'Rain Tables'. Have a look at her full portfolio for more images, as well as different projects and techniques. 

inspiration: Klash Erbert

Swedish designer Klas Ernflo has the most exciting portfolio - from drawings of knitwear, quilts and fabric footballs. 

inspiration: Fun Makes Good

image source

Fun Makes Good is run by Glasgow based textile designer and upholster Eleanor Young. Fun Makes Good re work items of furniture taking inspiration from architecture and geometric shapes. The colours are fun, exciting and bold, I particularly liked looking at their drawings - you can really see the journey from paper to fabric with the designs. 

Hull Traders

image source , 'Pascoe', Furnishing Fabric, Shirley Craven, 1960s

"The combination of Hull Traders and Shirley Craven has produced a steady flow of excellent modern furnishing fabric designs over the past few years, many of them trendsetters" - Design, May 1968 

Hull Traders began in 1958 and soon had a reputation for wonderful fabric designs from winning several awards. Shirley Craven both designed textiles for the company and selected designs from freelance textile artists as well as over seeing the printing process. Designers who created pieces for the company included; Eduardo Palozzi, Althea McNish and Humphrey Spender. 

If you're looking at Hull Traders for your project you might find the following links useful:

Hull Traders on the V&A website

Search the V&A collection

Hull Traders website

Hull Traders on my learning

Heals

image source, 'Lariat', furnishing fabric, Hamdi El Attar for Heals, 1969

"Tom Worthington...aimed to meet both contract and domestic requirements and include designs which he knew would not be commercially successful, but believed would set trends for the future" - article in the Guardian, December 1970 

Heals was a department store that dates back to 1810. During the 1960s Tom Worthington was Heal's Design Consultant and he was a pioneer in investing in contemporary textiles. He had an open mind and often bought fabric designs from freelance designers and recent art school graduates. He'd then work with them to create a range of colour ways to print the fabrics in. The designs often reflected the changing moods of the 60s, from sober colours and geometric shapes to Pop and Op Art to flower power and super-realism. If you are looking at Heals for your project search through the collection on the V&A and select a fabric design reflects your interest in the 1960s! Heals have a variety of designs to choose from!

If you're looking at Heals for your project you might find the following links useful: 

examples of textile designs

'Heals' on V&A website

Search the collection on the V&A

Heals store today - still going!

Heals Rediscovers - looking back to the 60s

Craft Textiles: Noel Dyrenforth

image source, 'Wallhanging', Noel Dyrenforth, 1967

The 1960s saw a revival in traditional handicrafts such as; batik, hand-dying fabrics and weaving. They believed that making a limited number of items by hand was better than mass producing pieces. The practitioners using these techniques sought to bring new ideas to the crafts and one of these practitioners was Noel Dyrenforth who specialises in batik.

"I have never been complacent about batik. I constantly explore it for my own intuitive, creative ends; I interrogate its methods, concepts and challenges. Rules are broken, re-defined; risks are taken." Noel Dyrenforth

If you're looking at Noel Dyrenforth for your project you might find the following links useful:

'Craft Textiles' on the V&A

Noel Dyrenforths website

BBC documentary with Noel demonstrating his batik techniques

search the V&A collections

Examples of work on the Crafts Council Photostore

Interview on West Dean Colleges website

Terence Conran

image source, screen printed cotton furnishing fabric designed by Natalie Gibson for Conran Fabrics Ltd, 1967

In 1964 Terence Conran opened the first Habitat in Brompton Cross, London. The staff wore designs by Mary Quant to try and attract younger customers! His overall aim was to make attractive, affordable design available to the general public.

If you're looking at Terence Conran for your project you might find the following links useful:
Design Museum profile
The Conran Fabric Archive
V&A Designer Profile
Time Online Article

Zika Ascher

image source

Zika Ascher launched the Ascher studio. His studio was popular for commissioning artists to create textile print designs and he was well thought of in the fashion and textile world; If you're looking at Ascher for your project you might find the following links useful:

'Zika Ascher is an innovator, the man who introduced the mohair cult, and the flowered prints launched by Christian Dior' Vogue, January 1962

If you're looking at Ascher for your project you might find the following links useful:

The V&A website

Ascher Studio website

Search for 'Ascher' in the V&A collections