striking an Accord...

Last week was another of those busy ones in the studio.

Lots of projects on and a couple of events to attend to boot. We were exhausted but it was great fun.

First up on the events front was the Brighton and

Hove 10:10 first birthday party at the Sallis Benney Theatre in Brighton. It was great to meet up properly with all of the other Brighton and Hove businesses who have signed up to the campaign - from people that I know well to people that I have never met before.

We had a glass of bubbly and chatted, then wandered into the theatre and listened to a series of inspirational speakers about their own actions over the past year in the campaign and what they are planning for 2011 - just because it is called 10:10 doesn't mean that you stop in 2011!

For those of you not sure what 10:10 is - check out the main website here, and the Brighton and Hove campaign website here (and Brighton and Hove were the first 10:10 city!!!).

Plus,

Brighton and Hove has been described as 'by far and away the most determined and dedicated... we are using the examples of Brighton as the model for other cities ' by Eugenie Harvey - the 10:10 national campaign's international director - so we were pretty chuffed!

Next up on the event front was the FIRST EVER UK meeting of Designers Accord - situated at the University of Brighton. Now many of you will be aware of the 10:10 campaign, but not many of you will be aware of the Designers Accord....

To sum it up nicely, the Designers Accord is:

'the Designers Accord is a global coalition of designers, educators, and business leaders, working together to create positive environmental and social impact'

After finding about the Designers Accord and making sure we were going to be there, I did a bit of reading up and realised that the DA guidelines for design firms are what we do here - and stuff that we are passionate about. And so I am very proud to say that we have now become a proper design firm adopter of the code. But more of this in another post...

The night was great - fantastic mini lectures from MA students in Sustainable Design to visiting lecturers from London and further afield...

We had some snacks and then broke into five or so groups to fully discuss sustainability issues - what we felt was the most important to us, and how we can implement a change.

It truly was another inspirational night, and one that will not end here - hopefully we will be involved in more DA Brighton events, including an action group....

Daring decadence…

For those of you who are not aware, I also write a few blog posts for the excellent Brighton Collective Blog on retail interior design in Brighton, and here is a copy of my Valentine's Day post - on the most decadent and Brightonish chocolate shop you could ever imagine...

Luxury and decadence can come in many forms, from the pristine white of lead crystal and linen sheets to the opulence and colour saturation of jewels and tropical flowers. Of course, each person’s ideal of decadence will vary from the next, but I think that most will agree that the craft and deliciousness of the artisan chocolate falls lushly into this category. And at this particularly romantic time of the year, what could be better than combining the two – true decadence of the eyes and the taste buds.

Choccywoccydoodah in Duke Street, Brighton solidifies my own ideas of decadence in a way which borders on the fantastical, with constantly changing and awe inspiring front windows reminiscent of my childhood visits to the beautifully crafted Father Christmas grotto in Hanningtons.

The skills of the chocolatiers are proudly displayed to the world with giant sculptures, hand painted birds and flowers and pretty much life size skulls, shaded with perfection. The front window is wonderfully framed by the deepest of blacks, which ensures that the glorious colours glow from within the display, and is offset by traditional sign written script in a lush blood red.

This red continues into the womb like interior walls of the store, where clinical stacks of chocolate are banished in favour of mounds balanced on vintage cabinets, lit by cut glass chandeliers and reflected in opulent gilt mirrors. It feels like walking into a scene from a Tim Burton film – you are enclosed by the blood red and each glance reveals yet more wonders from the last. It is all beautiful, with a touch of eccentric madness, akin to the wondrous sculptures in the window which entice you in like the witch in the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel .

Flocks of chocolate birds rest on vintage china and reclaimed timber boxes contain more edible creations, shining like golden doubloons in a pirate treasure chest. Truffles glisten from within a stunning glass fronted cabinet, which doubles up as the serving desk and bunches of heart shaped chocolate lollies dangle from hooks like prizes in a funfair.

And a funfair is exactly what the interior is – a treat laced with a little edginess – the sauciness and naughtyness of a beautiful tattoo laden woman, with bright red lipstick, black flicked eyeliner and fishnet stockings. Hearts and flowers, skulls and birds.

So if the chocolate doesn’t get you in the Valentines mood, the interior most definitely will.

Choccywoccydoodah - http://www.choccywoccydoodah.com

24 Duke Street, Brighton

Open 10-6 Mon-Sat and 11-5 Sunday

Mini Murmuration White Night Brighton 2010

finally - here is the little video we have created for our fleeting White Night Brighton 2010 installation, 'mini murmuration'.

enjoy.

inhabitat...!

just a quickie - pretty chuffed as our piece on our installation mini murmuration has been picked up by Inhabitat...

http://inhabitat.com/2010/11/08/led-installation-sheds-light-on-the-plight-of-endangered-starlings/

wonderful!

White Night 2010...

I always write too many words in my posts, so before I ramble on, here are the pics of 'Mini Murmuration' - our light installation for White Night, Brighton 2010, which was based on

the roosting dance of the Red listed status starlings that call our beautiful West Pier home...

white night or white horses....

There are a few things that I find particularly exciting about the design process - the sketching, the thinking, but one of the best elements has to be the learning.

I find it such a wasted opportunity when designers (of any discipline) churn out ideas that have already been seen in another guise - surely we get our kicks from thinking up mad, weird and wonderful ways of doing new and exciting things? Maybe it is just me, but when I design I try and touch the moon - then figure out how I am going to build the damned ladder to do it.

Designing is challenging, and we should challenge ourselves (and our clients) every day.

But sometimes, no matter how much you plan, design, learn and invent, things can merrily gallop into your path, causing you to have a change of plan.

And so it is with our White Night proposal.

I planned for an ethereal, glowing and fluctuating installation, drifting and rocking next to the beautifully skeletal West Pier for White Night 2010 - this coming Saturday night. With the expertise and help of others I learnt about the rise and fall depths of the local tide, the natural drift, how to produce a double anchor system that would work with different wind directions, how to launch the boat, how to retrieve it, what a timed swell is and how it could cause our little boat a huge problem.

I learnt about the fishing boats of Brighton and why there aren't many about, the underlying structure (or lack of it) of the West Pier, and how great a high pressure front is and how nasty a low pressure front can be.

But knowledge can sometimes feel like a bad thing, hence the phrase 'ignorance is bliss'. And when I looked at the extremely complicated weather predictions for the West Pier area yesterday, the bits I had learnt showed me something I didn't want to see. A phone call to the wonderfully helpful and patient experts at the Brighton Seafront Office confirmed my fears.

Saturday night would be great if I wanted to do a bit of surfing at 1.00 am, with a 5ft swell over 12 seconds, but not so favourable for a little 1960's timber dinghy, full of wind generated LED's, next to a large and imposing metal structure.

'mini murmurations' will not float for White Night Brighton 2010.

Instead, she will be located on the beach (well above the high tide mark!) with her rods and LED's wafting in the breeze, albeit from a static base.

But Mother Nature is not to be messed with, and I would rather this than be swimming frantically out to the installation at the ungodly hours of the morning trying to stop it smash into the Pier. My risk assessment is complicated enough thank you.

So there we go - all have agreed that the low pressure looks ominous and even though I am a bit miffed, there is not much I can do. Instead, we will float her on another date when the gods of the sea are having a quiet snooze rather than the planned knees up this weekend.

Best laid plans...

Free Pumpkin Packs Fly...

we were blessed in Brighton to have a wonderfully summery day on Sunday, which made our free pumpkin pack giveaway for 10.10.10 - the global do something day - a much warmer and drier experience than it could have been.

so, donning our vintage style 'ice-cream sellers' tray (which we made from an old mesh bottomed bulb tray) I headed into the centre of Brighton to the very aptly named Gardner Street to begin the giveaway and encourage people to get into their gardens and reduce their food miles.

there were three varieties on offer - Hundredweight, Winter Festival and Marina di Chiogga and very soon the green fingered (and willing converts) were snapping up the free packs, which held two little seeds and a pot saved from our show gardens this year.

within an hour, all 100 packs had gone to new homes - from students to OAP's, families with gardens and 20 somethings with a tiny plot.

and all for free.

so - if you got one of our free packs you can now visit our website www.clairepotterdesign.com to download your free, paperless growing and recipe guide.

and if you didn't nab any free seeds do not despair - you can still download the pdf and make the tasty recipes with your local, seasonal produce available now - try Pumpkin soup, Pumpkin Risotto, Pumpkin and Cobnut Pie and Pumpkin and Maple Syrup Cupcakes (from our chums at the Simple Pleasures Cupcakery).

Enjoy!

10:10:10 - are you doing something this Sunday?

The very observant of you will notice our new little 10:10 Blog logo, which makes a temporary appearance on this post and a permanent appearance on our side bar.

So, what is 10:10? Well, in it's own words:

10:10 is a movement of people, schools, businesses and organisations cutting their carbon by 10% in a year

And we have signed up. We aim to be as eco friendly here at claire potter design as we can, and this is another way we can show our commitment to the global cause. visit the 10:10 website here to sign up and get more info.

PLUS, 10:10:10 (10th October 2010) is the global day of doing, and we will be doing something nice on the streets of Brighton to help people reduce their food miles, grow at home, bake something tasty and with a bit of recycling thrown in.

We will be in the city centre, handing out 100 'Pumpkin Packs' which include FREE mini packs of pumpkin or squash seeds, along with a little plant pot to grown them in next spring (which are left over from our 2010 show gardens).

AND there will be a little temporary page on our website where the lucky recipients can get growing instructions for their pumpkins, along with recipes for their use!

But don't worry - if you don't get a free Pumpkin Pack you can still download our Pumpkin PDF and get the recipes for yourself!

Hopefully see some of you on Sunday! (we will be in the North Laines and the Lanes of Brighton, from around 10am.

do something different in the middle of the night...

We can now announce a few more details about exactly what we will be doing in the middle of the night - more specifically, over the night of 30th October - 31st October...

We are producing this:

This, is to be our sea bound installation for the wonderful White Night Brighton 2010 - 'mini murmuration' and this is what is about.

Responding to the 2010 theme of ‘Illumination’ Claire Potter Design have been commissioned to produce an innovative light installation which will play homage to two icons of the city – the crumbling West Pier and the starlings which call it home.

Over recent years, the West Pier has developed from a skeleton into a living performance, when every night, thousands of starlings mass and whirl in the skies above the structure - known as a murmuration - creating a beautiful dance before they settle to roost. Whilst this dance is beautiful to watch, and has become as iconic as the West Pier itself, many do not realise how important this roosting site is, and how threatened the starlings actually are.

One of the four specially commissioned pieces for White Night Brighton 2010, ‘mini murmuration’ is a light based installation which takes this ‘performance’ as inspiration, and aims to educate viewers as to the threatened status of the birds and the importance of the site.

A sea-based artwork will be created next to the West Pier itself, with around a hundred Mathmos ‘Windlights’ - miniature wind turbine LEDs – glowing and swaying above an old timber boat, creating a fluctuating shape reminiscent of the murmurations of the starlings.

Red LEDs have been chosen to highlight the Red Listed status of the starlings on the RSPB Species of Conservation Concern list, whilst the number of LEDs used (approximately 80 – 100) will highlight the massive numerical decline of the birds. Only a small ‘cloud’ of LED starlings will sway next to the Pier.

We will of course be posting more info on the development of the piece as it is made, but if you want to do something different in the middle of the night, stick the 30th Oct in your diary, and come and say hello.

staycation memoirs...

just like a holiday, we blinked and it was over - but we are delighted to announce that our studio staycation was a great success!

over the five open days we spoke to nearly 100 different people, who had a variety of queries from which herbs to plant on a semi-shady balcony to what types of natural insulation are available.

we helped people with natural rubber flooring, colour selection and clematis species.

we had a blast.

so much so, that we are planning on starting a new 'free friday' scheme in Brighton - setting up free design clinics an a variety of locations, one every two months, to help whoever wants to come and say hi!

further details will follow, but thank you to all of our visitors at our very first 'staycation'...

postcards from the staycation...

busy, busy, busy.day one - advice given on herbs for a semi-shade bal

cony, the use of social media and a whole house interior scheme.

more to come, so here are a few pics of our reclaimed space...

studio staycation (part 2...)

ooh - we have now got our flyer for our staycation sorted - click for a bigger pic!

ps - we have just added the back, which is useful - showing how to find us!

pop-up studio 'staycation'...

we are not going on holiday this year.

instead, we are decamping from our base in Portslade and creating an eclectic little pop-up studio in Brighton - offering free advice to all visitors for one week only!

situated in a unit in the Brighton Open Market in London Road, the temporary studio will be made from a whole load of reclaimed and recycled bits and pieces and will be our part of the residency with the wonderful compARTment group.

private or business, large or small, pop along and say hello and pick our brains, or send us an email (hello@clairepotterdesign.com) to pre-book your ***free*** consultation with one of the team...

(Tues 24th - Sat 28th August, about 10 - 5 ish every day...)

compARTment launches in Brighton...

It is typical. With all of the drought inducing spells we have had of late you can guarantee that if you wish for a glimmer of sunshine, the clouds will gather.

And so it was with a sigh I opened by blinds on Saturday morning to be confronted by a very Brighton-esque fine drizzle wafting in from the sea.

So why was I longing for the sun? Well, sunshine = people in the city, and today was the long awaited for launch of the compARTment project in the Open Market, London Road, Brighton. After all of the hard work, graft and passion of all those involved, it would really have been a shame for a bit of precipitation to dampen everyones spirits.

But we are a hardy old lot in Brighton, so we donned our macs and headed down to the Open Market to visit the Artist's Market, watch live graffiti, listen to live DJ's and ukuleles and see an installation made from elastic.

Despite the drizzle (which soon passed) there was a distinct buzz to the market, with the rumble of voices and beats audible over the buses and shoppers.

Turning the corner to the south side of the market, stalls 38 and 39 became visible...

One unit houses the elastic installation by compARTment member and co-founder Nic Blair, whilst the other unit featured the first of regular artist / makers markets. It was wonderful.

visit the compARTment website for more details on what is to come at the units over the next few months (including our very own studio staycation at the end of August...)

white night Brighton 2010...

a very quick post - we are very excited in the studio as we have been selected to produce an installation for the forthcoming White Night Brighton on 30 Oct 2010...

more details to follow (once we have stopped jumping about).

expect wind powered LED's, patterns of nature and an old boat...

compARTments and MESH...

After my little sneaky peek post yesterday and my telling off for being soooo unfair, I have decided to reveal a little more about what we are doing and have done recently in the studio. It is not ground breaking, but we have been and continue to be excited by the below. Hopefully you will too...

First up - the University of Sussex Product Design Degree Show - you may remember from a couple of posts ago that we had made, and were sponsoring an award and were hot footing it up to Falmer to bestow the 'best eco design' award onto one of the very deserving students.

Well, the winner we selected was Kerry Norwood for her project MESH (Major Emergency Sustainable Housing). This is a truly worthy 'eco' project in so many ways. Using readily available metal sections and mesh sheets, Kerry designed a modular house kit which can be fitted, in multiples, into a standard sized shipping container.

Created for use in sudden emergency situations, the MESH unit can be put together quickly and simply, with the addition of an internal plastic sheet ensuring that the house is weatherproof. The gabion like walls begin empty, but are designed to be filled with the rubble and detritus of the collapsed homes, allowing a new life to be literally built from the remnants of the old.

Its humanitarian and aid advantages are obvious, but it was the beautifully simple eloquence of the 'rebuilding' aspect which I particularly loved. To give someone the chance to help themselves - a new purpose in the chaos - is strikingly powerful.

Kerry is now deciding how to take this project forward, so I will post a little more (including some images) as soon as I am able.

Next - compARTment.

Over the past two weeks, we have become involved in a very exciting project in Brighton, with the compARTment team - a group of makers, designers and artists who are committed to rejuvenating the empty spaces around the city.

The pilot project is utilising two empty units in the soon-to-be-redeveloped Open Market in Brighton - filling them temporarily with a series of art installations, exhibitions and pop up spaces. Running from now until September or October this year, it is hoped that the varied activities will increase the footfall to the market, supporting the remaining stallholders.

We have become involved in the project in a few capacities - helping with some of the set up organisation bits, possibly designing some spaces for other people and actually creating a couple of installations ourselves.

Heard of pop-up shops? Well, we are going to have a pop-up studio - creating an exciting little space to call home for a week, where the good people of Brighton can come and say hello and talk to us about more exciting little (or large) spaces.

So there you go - two little things that we have done and are doing - both of which will be filled out with more info over the next few weeks!

And the solar and wind powered installations? Well, I am afraid that is one for next week. I haven't drawn them up yet.

watch this (previously empty) space...

we have been away, but like Arnie, we are back and with a lot to tell...

some bits are still embargoed, but there will be news VERY soon about a couple of very interesting little projects we are currently involved in.

empty spaces? pop up shops and exhibitions? temporary installations? solar and wind powered lighting creations?

coming soon to an empty space in Brighton soon...

guerillas in our midst...

as the last post mentions, we have recently updated our website - something which was widely overdue but one of those things you just don't get around to doing.

Personal marketing is something that we all do without even realising (wearing particular clothes to display our affections to a certain genre, wearing a particular 'smell' to attract a certain type of person etc etc) .

Business marketing is a slightly different (and usually much more costly) to undertake. And if you are a business trying to be as 'green' as possible, the avenues become even more thinned out. Blanket flyers to a thousand homes and businesses may be a no no, even if they are recycled.

So are there ways of spreading the word about your business or cause in a different way?

Of course there are - guerilla marketing is a movement that we have all experienced in some way or another (from graffiti to empty spaces being transformed into temporary gardens) and there are a few people who are really trying to green up the whole consumerist world of information transfer.

We are in the process of starting our own eco guerilla marketing campaign, and we found a lot of inspiration from these guys.

watch this space for our little installations which should be popping up around Brighton in the next two months or so...

apothecaries and apologies...

Again it seems as though I have abandoned this poooor little blog.

Spring has sprung on the south coast, and the amount of work I am trying to squeeze into the time my eyes are open has expanded beyond the time my eyes want to stay open. Subsequently, the blog has been a little neglected.

But no matter, I am here now, so I thought I would write a true diary post about what I have been up to.

I have attended a wonderful seminar, arranged by the Design Council and South East Design all about Designing for Sustainability, which was held at the truly beautiful Stanmer House. There were other wonderful people there and we spent the afternoon talking about carbon calculations, life cycle analysis and closed loop designing before redesigning an object that one of us had brought with us as an example of bad design.

The main speaker for the event was James from Giraffe, who was fantastic - just like a brilliant lecturer who can get you excited about the strangest of things, like carbon calculations. For example, using carbon calculations, you would have to use a ceramic mug 1000 TIMES before it outweighs the amount of CO2 used in the manufacture, transportation and disposal of the traditionally eco baddie that is the expanded polystyrene cup. Interesting eh?

But do not despair. Do not rush out and fill your kitchen cupboards with disposable cups (unlike our local hospital....). Just continue with your mugs and use them till they bust. Then continue to use them as plant pots or crocks.

I also trawled around Lewes looking at fantastic antiques that I cannot afford. Including these AMAZING apothecary drawers, which one day I will have an entire wall of, or I will find a lovely lovely client who will allow me to specify mountains of them for an interior.

We walked around a preserved iron age barrow and settlement and met a dog called Rory and his owner.

I also met a new client, have designed a micro market stall for a local trader using reclaimed timber and done my end of year books. My printer has broken, but the engine of our Morris Minor is being fixed (piston number 4 needs replacing). I have redesigned our website, but have not programmed it yet.

We also created a range of teacup bird feeders for Gaynor Witchard (who will be using them for her show garden at Cardiff at the end of the week), using these lovelies, and started to assemble another batch for a forthcoming showgarden at Malvern.

And of course, Malvern is getting dangerously close. Even though we have been on site since February, the show suddenly seems just around the corner, and the relentless countdown on the Meet at Malvern site is not doing much to calm my nerves. But things are going well, and I have been told that our decorative pool is so large I will be able to do my lengths in it every morning. Sounds good to me. Oh - I have also started to blog for both Meet at Malvern and the Three Counties Agricultural Society website, so take a look for my specific show garden ramblings.

Last but not least, I have been involved in the setting up of a new and (almost) completely unrelated business to my own.

The wares are natural and delicious and more details will follow very very soon...

can you guess what it is yet?

Brighton is Green with Architecture...

The last week has been quite hectic here in the claire potter design studio.

First off, last Saturday, we were delighted to be exhibiting at the Brighton Green Architecture Day, organised and run at the Sallis Benney Theatre by the wonderful people at the Brighton Permaculture Trust.

We were one of a number of exhibitors who merrily talked to the lovely people who attended about eco design, solar panels, composting and timber building.

Our stand was, well, as could be expected, quite quirky.

We split the services we provide into three strips (exteriors, interiors and product design) and zoned the table with a little recycled cardboard box sculpture.

For the exteriors, we had a little picket fence holding back an explosion of cress,

for the interiors, we had a little house with an LED inside.

and for the products, a little flat and pop up cut out of lights, desks, chairs and general stuff was created.

And because we were not able to put anything on the wall, we utilised an old hospital privacy screen that had been salvaged from somewhere and been kicking around the studio pleading for a new life by attaching scraps of timber, painting them up into blackboards, attaching some bulldog clips and scribbling all over them with our markers. (watch out for our 'wardy board' at other events ecospot spotters...)

There were fantastic talks on the day (including by our chum Tim at BioTecture and Ben Law of Grand Designs fame) and my exhaustion was remedied by the lovely contacts I made and by drinking fairtrade coffee.

If you are local and did not attend, put it in the diary for next year.

Saturday done, Sunday beckons, and by a spritely 10.00 I was on the Brighton Seafront Arches stretching my legs to run my 6 miles for Sport Relief.

11.00 I started, and I finished at 12.20. Pretty slow, but there you go - I did it, and it is the furthest I have EVER run. I could have done it faster, but I have made the mistake of training at night (at around 0 - 6 degrees) and our Brighton run was in lovely spring sunshine (at around 16 degrees). This blistering heat wiped me out until my body woke up and adjusted after three or so miles.

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN to everyone who was able to sponsor me wandering around the course - it means stacks to both me and the reams of people your money will help support, both here and in the UK.

A video will follow of my meanderings, so watch this space...