100% Design: Contemporary Interiors and Architectural Event

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Nightingale Associates popped down to this year’s 100% Design event at Earl’s Court to learn more about the latest innovations on display. Here are some of the exhibitors who caught our attention:

Perception of Colour

Artists, Rob and Nicky Carter, are investigating the public’s perception of colour by inviting exhibition visitors to choose the shade they believe to represent the seven different colours.

2700 Pantone swatches have been laid out for 1000 members of the public to select colours from the whole Pantone range that, in their mind, best represent the seven spectral colours: Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple.

Exhibition visitors had to choose one shade from the swatches and write its Pantone number on a questionnaire.

The questionnaire answers were then stuck onto seven large wall mounted sheets of aluminium, creating seven large monochromes to evolve over the course of the exhibition. Rob and Nicky Carter said they were unsure about what shape the final artworks would take but were already excited about the results. Particularly about the fact that the red monochrome contained a couple of blues! The perception of colour was clearly differing greatly from person to person.

Feelgood Designs

Feelgood designs were exhibiting as part of ‘Doing it for the kids’ - a project organised by [re]design who are working to bring sustainable actions to the toy industry. Feelgood believe good design can have a profound influence on child development, learning and the quality of play. They supply contemporary furniture to create stimulating environments for children. The products are one outcome of the children, spaces, relations research project (Reggio Children, Domus Academy, 1998), made in Italy, and the result of ongoing collaboration between designers, architects and the world-renowned schools at Reggio Emilia.

Feel Good Designs’ Managing Director, Matthew Giaretta, said: “We’re working with ‘Doing it for the kids’ as part of the 100% Design Festival, with our sustainable materials. For instance, we’ve removed the toxins associated with vinyl from our products and created designs that can grow with the child.

“As part of the research into children and spaces, we wanted to move away from primary colours to provide a wider range of complementary colours in the education environment.

“We believe in raising the aesthetics of children’s surroundings, providing various tactile qualities in products and broadening a child’s experience of their surroundings.

“It’s important to broaden the range of colours in children’s space because different children respond differently to different colours,” he added.

Blueprint Award Winner – Robin Grasby

“I thought I was in trouble,” admits Robin Grasby, ”All I heard was my name announced over the tannoy.” Robin Grasby had actually just won an award while exhibiting at a graduate display in Islington. Robin’s ‘Homework Desk’ has been recognised by Blueprint magazine for ‘the most promising talent’. “Desks are odd products,” explains Robin.

“They tend to be generic, which is their fall-down,” he continues, “And I think furniture should be enjoyed, so I interviewed professionals about their work space and formed a product that could be customised and adapted to anyone’s needs.

“It’s got tressles, storage and you can choose the materials for your surface,” says Robin as he pulls out drawers, lifts the surface and ducks beneath his desk to display all the features of his design.

He graduated this summer from Northumbria University in Newcastle, UK, where he studied Three Dimensional Design BA(Hons). After receiving interest in his work and receiving two awards at this year’s New Designers Exhibition in London, he is now displaying a selection of his pieces at 100% Design.

Open Gallery: Video Painting

We also talked to Open Gallery’s Will Smith about video painting. This new medium of art displays scenes in buildings via projectors and is being used in hotels, bars and even hospitals. The moving imagery contains no narrative or edits and is filmed in a single take with a stationary camera. The large scale projection allows for an impressive surrounding space to be created.