Day 19. The Most Memorable Design Exhibition I’ve Been to.

Whilst we’re spending a lot more time at home, I find it often leads to reflection and thinking back to freer times. I’ve been researching ideas for future content and I’m certainly not short of inspiration. This felt like the perfect moment to share a post on my creative process.

The Creative Process

When I’m teaching, I often discuss my creative process. I believe all artists and designers should have some form of routine in which they create a project or collection. This routine should be repeated, refined, and improved — because creative consistency always prevails.

Colour as a Challenge

Colour within this process has always been my nemesis. I’ve long admired designers who use colour sensitively. In the past, I’ve felt my own approach could be brash or crude, struggling to find the right balance. An all‑neutral palette, for example, has always scared me! But with experience and education, colour begins to fall into place. I’m learning to grow and become better with it.

Inspiration from Hella Jongerius

I’ve been thinking back to one of my favourite design exhibitions by colour theorist Hella Jongerius. Held at the (then) brand‑new Kensington Design Museum, it comprised a series of colour experiences that made you reassess how colour is created. Tones, shades, hues, complementary and contrasting combinations — colour is truly multi‑faceted.

I loved how the pieces were artworks in themselves, yet also told an educational and interactive story.

“We see the world in colour but rarely do we appreciate how colour shapes what we see.”

Breathing Colour, by acclaimed Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, was an installation‑based exhibition that explored how colour behaves through shapes, materials, shadows, and reflections. Jongerius isn’t afraid of colour — that’s the point. But she certainly has a distinct aesthetic.

My Own Studies

I’m attaching some images from my visit, along with a screenshot of colour studies from my new collection. A pop of vibrant tones, a pastel or neutral or two, and a colour theme (such as warm reds) is my motto.

A colour chart from a rug project a number of years back.