Glass art to feature at New Designers 2023

New Designers (ND), the UK’s largest graduate design event, returns to the Business Design Centre, London, for its annual gathering this June and July, attracting industry and members of the public interested in the freshest innovators in design.

ND takes place over two separate weeks and features different craft and design disciplines each week, with over 3,000 creative graduates celebrating innovative and exciting emerging design talent.

Week 1 (28 June to 1 July) features: Glass, Fashion & Costume, Contemporary Design Crafts, Textiles, Ceramics, Jewellery & Precious Metalwork.

Week 2 (5 to 8 July) features: Furniture, Product Design, Industrial & Spatial Design, Graphic Design, Illustration & Animation, Motion & Digital Arts.

Among the graduates exhibiting glass this year is Nuala Torp, showing with Manchester School of Art. She specialises in glass and ceramics and says that her work exists to distract from the formality of the everyday. She has developed playful processes that question the perceived. Torp works instinctively and often spontaneously to find a balance between materials, colour and form. This creates a unique and distinctive visual language, as seen in her recent project, Ludic (pictured).

ND Selects

ND Selects is a curated space dedicated to shining a light on new businesses in the design industry. Visitors can expect to see products that have just made it to market. Each exhibitor is hand-selected by a panel of industry experts for their innovative designs. This year’s curator is Louisa Pacifico, founder of Future Icons. Louisa selects makers and designers to represent and nurture through business consultancy and curated showcases.

ND Awards

This year’s ND Awards programme offers over 30 awards, in the form of prizes and industry opportunities, from some of the UK’s leading design brands, including Hallmark, Joseph Joseph, Anglepoise, Tatty Devine and Habitat.

ND Futures

ND Futures is the schools programme aimed at 15-18 year olds, offering them guidance and inspiration in the hope that they will consider a career in design. 2023 sees the introduction of the ND Futures Fund, whereby visitors can donate at checkout to enable underprivileged school children in the borough to visit ND and start their journey on a design career.

ND Educates

Alongside the exhibitions, there will be inspiring talks and workshops from leading brands, designers and industry experts presenting insights into the latest design trends and themes in the sector.

Founded in 1985, ND has helped launch the careers of some of the UK’s most prolific designers, including Bethan Gray, Jay Osgerby, Stella McCartney and Lee Broom. It provides a platform for graduates to present their visionary ideas to the public and industry professionals. It is presented by Immediate Media.

The latest details of New Designers 2023 can be found here and ticket options are available via this link. Contemporary Glass Society (CGS) members can get a special 20% discount off full ticket prices bought in advance – look out for the code in the CGS weekly emails.

Main image: A view of New Designers 2022. Photo courtesy of New Designers.