We recently launched the EYECHART tea towel to help the Visionbox Foundation raise funds, and you can read all about the amazing work they do to help people see more clearly, even if they can’t afford a pair of specs. EYECHART is a good-looking tea towel (excuse the pun) so instead of using it to …
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Make your own Eyechart Wallhanging
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Eye Love…
I’ve been wearing eyeglasses since I was 8 years old. But imagine if I had never got spectacles. I couldn’t read, draw, watch movies, enjoy people-watching, notice shadows, birds, shapes, compositions… and a million other things too. Without glasses, my experience of the world would be vastly different. In a hugely unequal country like ours, there …
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What’s the difference between a cushion and a pillow?
People often ask, “What’s the difference between a cushion and a pillow?” Today, we have an answer for you: Generally, people use the word “pillow” for the thing you put under your head when you sleep. It’s kind of oblong in shape and has a soft, washable cotton cover, called a pillow case. Our friends …
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Summer Seasonal at Heath Ceramics
It’s Summer in the Northern hemisphere now, and the Summer Seasonal range at Heath Ceramics has been launched, in a range of intense blues. We’ve been working with Heath Ceramics since 2008, and it’s always an honour and a treat to get the Heath seasonal palettes a couple of months ahead of each launch. Other …
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Start a pattern habit
My New Year’s resolution was to get in the groove of a daily pattern habit. The rule is that every morning before I start work, I fill a page of my pattern journal with some kind of pattern. I spend 15-20 minutes using the grid lines in my notebook to work through what a simple motif can do. Then, …
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The gap between idea and execution
So, tra-la-la, it’s all “clever me” when the facade of Fortuna apartments on the Sea Point Promenade gives me an idea… but what happens next? How does a sketch on paper actually turn into a vase? One that stacks? The fact is, there’s a MASSIVE gap between an idea, and the idea becoming something for realz. And …
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Who looks for treasure in the same place twice?
Nobody looks in the same place for treasure twice, right? Well, it depends on how you define ‘treasure’, I guess. For designers, like me, creative thoughts & fresh ideas are hugely valuable. This is the ‘treasure’ I look for, and I definitely need to look more than once to find it. Here’s what I mean: …
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Instagram’s Treasure Hunters
Occasionally, I take a photo that I feel really pleased with, and if I’m honest, the reason I’m happy with it is because it feels like a photo that I might ‘like’ on Instagram. Is that a funny thing to say? It’s not news to anyone that imitation (very different from coyping) is very a …
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How to Look Better – tips for seeing treasures every day
I’m a good looker. I don’t mean I’d win a beauty contest, just that LOOKING is part of my creative toolbox as a designer, and I’m good at it. I’m in the habit of using my eyes in an enquiring way that helps me make the creative connections and leaps that are needed for new …
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