University Challenge
A visitor at the Units show, that showed off the talents of students at Kingston University
Off-cuts give cutting edge to Kingston show
Rawside’s recent collaboration with Kingston University School of Arts was not just an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to the reclaim and reuse of materials – but was also a great chance to work with the university’s final year graphic design students — helping their innovation and creativity to shine through.
2019 graduate Calum Rigden, asked Rawside to get involved with the show to help showcase the students’ talents, as you can imagine it was an offer too good to refuse.
The show, Units, was aptly-named, as it sought to bring together smaller, individual pieces to create a larger exhibition showing the graduates’ range of disciplines and diverse ideas. Striking graphics and typography and colourful artworks, often relying on more traditional techniques, sat side by side with futuristic virtual reality displays — adding up to a powerful reflection of the wide-range of interests and creative skills of everyone involved.
Recycle materials, not ideas
On display over three days in June at Peckham’s Copeland Park, Rawside’s off-cuts of materials such as Valchromat found their way into the custom display tables which were used to show off the students’ work. Intricate and thought-provoking, Units got a lot of visitors through the doors at Copeland Park during its run, a fitting testament to the hard work and talent of the class of 2019 — and also raised some much-appreciated cash for @heartnsoulpics, a charity that seeks to invest in the creative talents of artists and designers with learning disabilities.
Rawside were honoured to get involved with this fantastic show, not that we did much, we just supplied some of our off-cut materials, the students’ ambition and talent did the rest.
See more on how Rawside wastes not wants not with our offcuts accessories.
“2019 graduate Calum Rigden asked Rawside to get involved, it was an offer too good to refuse”
One of the floral-inspired pieces from Orter
“The CNC process meant that I could look to produce shapes and designs that simply wouldn’t have been possible with more traditional techniques”
CNC adds to Camberwell creativity
Rawside prides itself on being “built in the city”, so it’s no surprise we’re big fans of London’s creative talent — and we’re always looking to help them out whenever we can via our Student Hub projects.
Camberwell University student Atlanta Hanes is one of our newest additions to the hub — and her cool and innovative designs have benefited from some of Rawside’s computer numerical controlled (CNC) machinery as shown in her recent collection, Orter.
“Orter was the culmination of a year long exploration of retro forms in terms of design — but using the advantages afforded by modern materials and processes”, she says.
“The CNC process meant that I could look to produce shapes and designs that simply wouldn’t have been possible to achieve with the required precision if I’d used more traditional techniques”, Atlanta continues.
The results speak for themselves, Atlanta produced a set of pieces including a large two-metre table, floral shaped seating and a coffee table, top-routed with a “bloom” design — the playfulness of the shapes meaning the materials could shine through without needing the addition of colour for impact.
“Orter was a really interesting range to design, Rawside’s help was invaluable in turning my ideas into a practical and easy-to-assemble reality — the finished cutouts arrived exactly as I imagined them and slotted together so neatly.
“The process and techniques used were something I look forward to building on in the future – digital technologies, the creation of one-off ‘on-demand’ pieces, the focus on maximising materials and keeping things local, this truly was ‘built in the city’, I can’t thank Rawside enough for helping me realise my vision”.