For the last three
years in the run up to Christmas The Glasgow School of Art’s Product Design
Engineering department has created limited edition designs as part of a live
brief run in partnership with the GSA shop. The brief challenges students to
create products that will appeal to a visitor to the GSA shop and that are at
an affordable price. The Glasgow School of Art Shop acts
as the client on this cross-school collaboration project, taking part in
student crits throughout the process to offer advice and feedback, shaping the
students’ products to appeal to customers and be ready for retail.
This year’s collection, which for the first time
includes designs by staff, will go on sale exclusively in the GSA shop
tomorrow, 1 December 2017.
This year’s designs range from spoons inspired by the
designs of Robert Stewart and the colourful spindles in the Mack Library, a counter
balanced whisky bottle holder made from reclaimed whisky barrel lids, and a
modular sculpture / organiser for jewellery, keys or stationery items which is made
from copper and cedar wood. Prices start at £20.
The products will be available from 4.30pm on 1
December until 8 December 2017 (or while stocks last.) in The Glasgow School of
Art Shop 164 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G3 6RF
Open 10am – 4.30pm, 7 days a week.A number of designs will be available online
via www.gsashop.co.uk
For further information, images and interviews contact:
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering student
Sarah Davies.
Dimensions: 26 x 3.5 cm, widths vary from 6 –
12.5 cm.
Materials: oak whisky barrels, natural wax, matt
lacquer.
Price: £30
A cleverly engineered bottle holder to display your
favourite tipple! These limited edition designs have been created from recycled
whisky barrel lids, making each one unique.
“Tipple is a
counterbalanced whisky bottle holder made from old whisky cask lids sourced in
Glasgow,” says Sarah. “I have treated the white oak staves
with beeswax to give a natural colour and depth to the wood and used a matt
lacquer to preserve the original blue paint finish on others. I aimed
to create a product which showcases the connection between the whisky product
and its origins.”
Link
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering student,
Camelia Cumming.
Price: £35
Dimensions: 15 x 15 x 2.5 cm base, shapes around 7.5
x 7.5 cm
Materials: copper and cedar wood.
This modular copper and cedar wood organiser is great
for keys, pens and phones or earrings, necklaces and trinkets. It’s sculpture
form can be changed to suit your needs and adds a visual treat to your desktop,
hallway or dressing table.
“Memphis-inspired
geometric shapes are juxtaposed with natural materials of copper and cedar wood
to create a modular storage system,” explain Camelia. “With
this product I want the user to add their own creative touch and explore the
variety of sculptural forms and functions that can be produced with a few
simple shapes.”
HOLZ
Designed by GSA Product Design
Engineering student Christiane Walker.
Price: £52
Dimensions: 15 x 45 x 25 cm approx.
Materials: elm burr, gold leaf, brass.
Add golden glimmer and warmth to your mantle or table
this festive season with a unique centrepiece. Gold leaf showcases the beauty
of the super smooth elm wood, set off with warm brass candle holders.
“I was inspired by the
ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi or “Golden Joinery” which celebrates the
natural beauty in broken objects which would otherwise be discarded,” says Christiane “HOLZ has been made from locally sourced Elm Burr with real gold leaf
set into the natural cracks and holes which results in a rich, warm
experience. It is best used with tealights to cast shadows from the
natural form of the burr and to reflect warm light off the gold leaf.”
Puck
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering student
Tom Lever.
Price: £85
Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.2 x 6.5 cm,
weight 1234g
Materials: 304 stainless steel
While away those tedious hours in the office with
this executive fidget spinner. Get lost in the satisfying engineering of this
heavyweight desktop toy and unlock the meditative mindset required
for those tough strategic decisions and top level lightbulb moments.
This piece of precision design is solid CNC machined
in 304 stainless steel. Puck is made in the UK, with Japanese components.
Mister Wolf
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering
student Colette Marshall.
Great for a mantelpiece, these contemporary clocks
beautifully showcase locally sourced lime wood, with striking blue segment
hands to tell the time.
“Each clock has been
uniquely handcrafted from the same cutting of locally
sourced lime wood,
says Collette. “The different shapes
of each body were carefully designed to best accentuate the grains and bark,
while the smooth surface texture was achieved by hand finishing every
product. With the contrast between the colourful hands and the natural
beauty of the wood, ‘Mister Wolf’ is sure to be an eye-catching feature in any
home.”
Focus
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering
student Anna Robb.
Price: £42
Dimensions: 61 x 15 x 45 cm.
Materials: birch plywood and acrylic
Cleverly engineered, this photo frame’s simple design
belies the complex mechanism within inspired by a camera aperture. Turn the
side wheel to see the internal shutter expand to reveal your image.
“Focus is a
dynamic framing solution which allows you to ‘crop’ your photo by expanding/contracting
its border as desired,”
says Anna. “Inspired by my
frustrations at existing photo frame designs, this product provides flexibility
and takes the faff out of framing. Its rustic aesthetics and smooth camera
aperture mechanism make for a unique and satisfying experience.”
Tangerine, Courgette, Squid figures
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering tutor Hugh
Pizey.
Price: £25 each, £70 for a set of three.
Dimensions: 28 x 7 x 1.5 cm.
Materials: beech spoons, ply base, wood stain
and acrylic paint.
Inspired by the mid-century designs of GSA alumnus
Robert Stewart and Mackintosh’s carved balustrades, these playful
limited edition spoon cleverly elevate mass produced objects using traditional
craft methods to create collectable decorative designs.
“I am interested in
working between craft and digital processes,” says Hugh “The
original spoons are the result of mass produced computer-controlled processing
of wood. Using simple woodworking machines I have selectively removed material
from these spoons and then applied stain and layers of paint to produce a
series of figures. These figures have taken inspiration from the wood-turned
work of Robert Stewart and details in the Mackintosh Library.”
Reid Building Puzzle
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering
student Jed Corney.
Price: £25
Dimensions: 61 x 15 x 45 cm.
Materials: Base – MDF, main building – PLA,
voids – PETG, union building – Woodfill 70%PLA- 30% Coconut).
Puzzleaway with this 3D printed model of the Reid
building at The Glasgow School of Art. Steven Holl’s bold design has been
engineered into a fun puzzle, complete with removable voids of light.
“From a young age, I’ve
always been surrounded by puzzles; from my Grandad’s monthly jigsaw
subscription to by Dad’s vast collection of 3D puzzles, I have alway loved
problem solving, and hence my interest in PDE,” says Jed. “Each
part was manufactured individually on a 3D printer, taking a total of 7.5 hours
of print time per puzzle. The Building was modelled by extracting dimensions
from Google Earth.”
Balance
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering student
Christie Sherlock.
Price: £45
Dimensions: 30.5 x 21.5 x 6 cm boxed, 60 x 30 x
30 cm when hung, hanging length up to 2.5m.
Add balance to your interiors with a mobile exploring
the relationships between different materials. The central structure lifts out
from the box, ready to add each element to perfectly balance the mobile.
“I wanted to create a
product that explored materiality and relationships, says Christie. “The
mobile therefore uses a variety of different mediums to create complementary
contrasts: such as shape, colour, density, size and distance. Each natural
element has been specifically chosen and crafted through a variety of different
manufacture processes to create a perfect balance physically and
visually. Once beautifully balanced the product moves and rotates,
transforming the space and creating a sense of calm. For the best effects it
should be placed in an area with good lighting.”
Mocha / Hankou
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering
student Joshua Hosking.
Price £20 each
Dimensions: 5.5 x 5.5 x 5.5 cm
Materials: Parian
Sip in style with these satisfyingly delicate parian
cups, each specifically designed for its purpose, to enjoy an espresso or a
warming blend of tea. Smooth and textured surfaces contrast to create surprise
in these sublime designs.
“Mocha was born out of
my desire to produce an espresso cup that would better reflect and enhance
the experience of sitting down for coffee,” says Joshua. “Over
the course of 32 failed versions I honed exactly the form required for
a perfect serving of espresso, using techniques inspired by traditional
spoon carving. Each cup is cast in Parian with a hollow body to
insulate both coffee and your hands.
“Hankou was inspired by the
relationship between the tea clippers of the 19th century, and ship
building on the Clyde,” he adds. “The
outside wall texture is taken directly from a casting I made from one of Glasgow’s
iconic tenement buildings. Due to the way the cups are textured each one
is unique and has its own features and character.”
Marmo
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering student
Emily Breen.
Price: £25
Dimensions: 7 x 7 x 5.5 cm.
Materials: silicone.
This deceptive decorative candle holder holds a
surprise! Its monochrome marble finish belies the soft, bouncy nature of this
flexible silicone candle holder, creating an intriguing contrast between
the objects material and visual qualities.
“Marmo is a marble-like
silicone candle holder which aims to play with our perceptions of materiality,
using the juxtaposition of qualities in an object which looks hard but feels
soft,” Says Emily. “The product is intended to look like marble
from a distance but on closer inspection, it is in fact flexible enough to be
squashed, dropped or even thrown. Each candle holder is cast in a hand-crafted
mould with the free-flowing marbled pattern making each object truly
unique.”
Loc8
Designed by GSA Product Design Engineering student Gary Wong.
Price: £25
Dimensions: 23 x 23 x 2.8 cm boxed, 60 x 30 x 30 cm when hung,
hanging length up to 2.5m.
Materials: MDF coated in beeswax, cartridge paper
“Loc8 is a game of physical skill consisting of 3 interchangeable
artworks with a set of holes and ball bearings,” explains Gary. “The aim of the game is to tilt and navigate
the playfield to guide 8 ball bearings into 8 holes in each slide. The designs
of each image draw from the theme of scale where the larger the perceived
image, the harder the game is. Each image has been screen printed using a
silkscreen to produce a clean and crisp image.”
