Homes & Gardens Designer Awards 2014
The award ceremony for the Homes & Gardens Designer Awards was held last week at the British Museum, a grand venue for such prestigious design industry awards and so exciting to be nominated for the Ceramic & Glassware Designer Award.
The judging panel chaired by Barbara Chandler, design writer for the Evening Standard & also reputed to be the "The sharpest eye in London", the judging panel also consisted of Robin Levien RDI, Nick Monro, Ruth Aram and many industry experts including Matthew Hilton & the Tent & Superbrand Director & Founder Jimmy MacDonald .
The highly coveted award was announced & presented by Robin Levien who added these words of praise:
'Sue Pryke is a designer who perfectly illustrates the fact that design for mass production can be of a high quality and have warmth.
Sue Pryke’s designs are simple and pared down, they have an understated elegance that places them within the Super Normal design typology.'
Excerpt From Homes & Gardens:
Sue Pryke has an impressive career steeped in ceramic design and manufacture, combining teaching and in-house design for major brands with running her own studio. She studied first at Leicester Polytechnic and then at the Royal College of Art and has designed numerous collections for companies that include Sainsbury’s, John Lewis, M&S, Waitrose and Ikea. The judges looked, in particular, at two ranges that Sue is producing in the studio she set up last year. She has modelled the shapes in plaster, turning them on a lathe, and then the pieces are handmade in two small UK
factories. Terracotta tableware includes bowls, jugs and tumblers, with a contrast of dull terracotta and a glossy cream glaze. Her white bone china with simple forms includes bowls, plates, creamer, sugar box and mugs. Sue is also producing her own designs in wood, leather, metal and even concrete. “I love exploring materials,” she says. “I use small factories and studios in England to make high-quality products by hand.”
INSPIRATIONS “Simple, everyday, functional forms and intuitive decisions that influence choice.”
WHAT THE JUDGES SAID “Understated, afford-able, functional and elegant. Sounds easy but is very hard to achieve.” “Designs that fit in rather than stand out,
a true test of excellence.” “In-built longevity.”
WHAT NEXT? “I’m expanding my own contemporary craft-made tableware, and working on exclusive ranges for bigger British brands.”
