As part of the 'Wallcovering's' Brief, we were required to produce a ten mintue presentation on a given question. Ours was 'Compare and Contrast the Work of Two Contemporary Wallpaper Designers'. We chose to discuss Clare Coles and Timorous Beasties. The key points and some images are below:
Clare Coles
She graduated from Middlesex University with a first class degree in Applied Arts, and has a background in ceramics. Her bespoke wallpapers involve reworking over existing papers through collage, embellishment and illustrating with stitch. Her work has been chosen to be exhibited at The London Art Fair and Affordable Art Fair. Clare was also selected by Elle Decoration to produce a window display for Selfridges, London.
Timorous BeastiesPaul Simmons and Alistair McAuley met doing Textile Design at Glasgow School of Art and Design in the 1980s, forming the design-led manufacturing company in the early 1990s. They work on a larger scale, screen printing their bold, graphic designs onto continuous lengths of wallpaper for commerical purposes.
Similarities/Comparisons
- They both produce aesthetically pleasing, beautiful wallpapers
- Both successful - in terms of popularity and demand
- Both reinvented traditions - Timorous Beasties have reworked traditional designs and updated them, making them relevant to the Twenty-First Century. For example - Glasgow Toile and Damask. Clare Coles employs an innovative approach, drawing from tradition by sourcing old, vintage papers and injecting a contemporary feel with her embroidered imagery.
Differences/Contrasts
- Materials - Clare Coles uses stitch and embellishment with leather and gems. Timorous Beasties screen print their designs, fulfilling what is expected of a traditional wallcovering.
- Content - Clare Coles papers are merely visually pleasing. Timorous Beasties achieve this and a layer of intelliegence/meaning through the use of deceptive, unusual imagery.
Therefore: These two designers shows that the creation of wallpapers is becoming cross-disciplinary adding diversity to the market and providing endless inspiration for aspiring designers. The popularity of wallpaper is increasing and is back in demand. Clare Coles and Timorous Beasties may differ in their approach and the materials that they use. However, they both produce beautiful, innovative papers that are helping the wallpaper industry to evolve.
For the 'Wallcoverings' project I really wanted to place an emphasis upon illustration and differing scale. Below are a few of my observational drawings and final CAD designs. I initially enlarged my drawings, transferring them onto A1 to give a clearer idea of a more appropriate size for a wall-covering. For my final collection, I screen printed designs, layering blue and black inks, used heat press papers and hand drawn lines and also CAD. I found the digital manipulation of my drawings particularly effective, especially digitally draping into situ, as it gave an immediate indication of the effectiveness of my designs within an interior space.
