Design Work:
I worked as a designer between 2010 - 2015 and continued to work part time as a tutor at Kingston University until 2018 (plus co-ran my side hustle, Mnimi Studio up until 2022). Here is a selection of my portfolio. I am now interested in combining my experience working in both design and
food industries.
Mnimi Studio
Jewellery designed with data
(2019 - 2022)
Mnimi was my Saturday-morning-kitchen-table-side-hustle, in collaboration with designer and friend, Jess Jones. The studio combined data driven design, high tech production processes and works with heritage makers in the UK to create meaningful, bespoke jewellery collections.
Big Small
RCA Independent Graduate Exhibition
(2014)
"The (design) world is a funny place, full of opposites and contradictions. Big vs Small, Rich vs Poor, Analogue vs Digital, Global vs. Local, Craft vs Mass Manufacture." To try to unpick these concepts, after graduating from the Royal College of Art, I curated an exhibition of work by fellow Design Products graduates. Big Small Show was part of the London Design Festival 2014 and hosted, not only an exhibition but a series of events such as a Swearing Competition, talks and the installation 'Commodity Casino.'
Hat 001
Range of hats
(2014)
Designed in collaboration with RCA colleague Dustin Jessen as part of our joint graduating project at the Royal College of Art. 'Hat 001' was made in collaboration with one of the UK's last remaining hatters, Walter Wright and Sons. The hat looks like a casual, baseball cap, but is produced using higher quality materials and much simpler manufacturing techniques used to make a top hat, streamlining the hatting process overall.
Navigating the High Street - An A-Z of London
Royal College of Art Dissertation
(2013)
In 1938, Eric Ravillious and J.M Richards published an illustrated book of High Street shops. It contained all sorts of shops that don’t exist anymore, but that were crucial to everyday life at that point in time. As part of my dissertation at the Royal College of Art, I went on a High Street Safari around London and compiled a list of current shops, looking at what their presence on the high street meant to the communities which surrounded them. This was a way of navigating the city that I grew up in. It was a type of A-Z of the ever-changing High Street and consequently the ever-changing city...
Royal College of Art Christmas Fete
A market place for art students
(2012 - 2013)
As UK University fees were increased and cuts in funding for the arts became more pronounced I started an MA at the Royal College of Art. During Christmas 2012 and Christmas 2013, I collaborated with the Student Union to galvanise the students of the RCA to sell their work with no retail fees. The RCA Christmas Fete was the College's first student run Christmas sale in its 174 year history and was an opportunity, not only for students to make some money, but for the public to pick up work by future art and design stars. The Fete is still run by the RCA Student Union each year.
Today's Specials
Guerilla design pop-up stores
(2011 - 2013)
Today’s Specials, run in collaboration with friend and designer
Richard Brendon between 2011 - 2013 was a series of pop up, guerilla market stalls that sold the work of young, British designers and design studios. The aim was to introduce them to the retail market without charging huge markups and high commissions. Market stalls and larger pop up events such as The Design Bazaar were run across London in street markets, empty shops and inside pubs. Today’s Specials showcased the work of up and coming designers - buyers and retailers were also invited to events for the benefit of the makers.