Last year marked the launch of Simple Shape; a new e-commerce site celebrating British and Irish designer-makers. One year on, founder Helen Osgerby is taking the next step in making Simple Shape a platform for unique craft with the launch of its first design collaboration, with an up-and-coming ceramicist.
Keeping in line with Simple Shape's existing minimalist design aesthetic, they have invited potter Jono Smart to create tableware collection ‘Centre’. Together with input from Osgerby, the Berkshire-based designer has conceived a selection of wheel-thrown crockery including bowls, jugs and egg-cups (a tribute to the forthcoming Easter holiday) in chalky hues of milky coffee and darker chocolate.
‘I want to make things that are allowed to change over time,’ explains Smart. ‘I want the pieces I make to have character: to age, to feel human, not too precise, pristine or mechanical.’
Smart originally set out as a garden designer before finding himself inspired to start making pottery just a year ago. His creative process – wheel-thrown and fired organic clay – creates delicately raw silhouettes that naturally differ from one another. The stackable, stark collection is multipurpose; for example the jugs can also be used as vases.
'Centre' is a special, personable collection. Osgerby describes the results as ‘utility pieces with a raw beauty that carry the marks and traces of Jono’s hands’. When asked if this is the first of many exclusive collections to come, she is positive. 'Working in a relaxed, collaborative way with the best of the UK’s designers is certainly something Simple Shape would like to do more of,’ she muses. Watch this space.
Entitled ’Centre’, the collection of wheel-thrown crockery includes bowls, jugs and egg-cups in chalky hues of milky coffee and darker chocolate
The earthy range keeps will in line with Simple Shape’s existing minimalist design aesthetic
Smart’s creative process – in wheel-thrown and fired organic clay – creates delicately raw silhouettes that naturally differ from one another
Simple Shape was launched last year by Helen Osgerby as a platform for British and Irish designer-makers
‘Working in a relaxed, collaborative way with the best of the UK’s designers is certainly something Simple Shape would like to do more of,’ Osgerby muses
INFORMATION
’Centre’ from £18. For more information, visit the Simple Shapes website
Photography: Yeshen Venema
-
The Sialia 45 cruiser is a welcome addition to the new generation of electric boatsPolish shipbuilder Sialia Yachts has launched the Sialia 45, a 14m all-electric cruiser for silent running
-
Tokyo design studio We+ transforms microalgae into coloursCould microalgae be the sustainable pigment of the future? A Japanese research project investigates
-
What to see at London Craft Week 2025With London Craft Week just around the corner, Wallpaper* rounds up the must-see moments from this year’s programme
-
Nature sets the pace for Alex Monroe’s first sculpture exhibitionThe British designer hops from jewellery to sculpture for his new exhibition at the Garden Museum, London. Here, he tells us why nature should be at the forefront of design
-
On the Isle of Man, the secret history of designer Archibald Knox is revealedThe mysterious life and works of local designer Archibald Knox is celebrated in a retrospective at Manx Museum, spanning silverware, furniture, clocks and more
-
Wedgwood’s AI tool lets the public reimagine Jasperware for its 250th anniversaryTo celebrate 250 years of Jasperware, Wedgwood debuts an AI tool that opens up the design process to the public for the first time
-
Reimagining remembrance: Urn Studios introduces artistic urns to the UKBridging the gap between art and memory, Urn Studios offers contemporary, handcrafted funeral urns designed to be proudly displayed
-
'What Makes a Space Nigerian?' is an exhibition celebrating the key elements of West African Homes‘Our aim was to create a space that Nigerians could connect with', says Moyo Adebayo's on his latest exhibition 'What Makes a Space Nigerian?' which explores what defines a Nigerian home
-
Feldspar makes its mark on Whitehall with a festive pop-up at Corinthia HotelDevon-based bone china brand Feldspar makes its first foray into shopkeeping with a pop-up at London’s Corinthia Hotel. Ali Morris speaks with the founders and peeks inside
-
One to Watch: EJM Studio’s stool is inspired by the humble church pewEJM Studio’s ‘Pew’ stool reimagines the traditional British church seating with a modern, eco-conscious twist
-
One to Watch: Family Project’s ‘furniture friends’ are elegant and humorous with lasting emotional valueFamily Project, founded by Francesco Paini, is a London-based design practice drawn to human connection, creating portraiture through furniture and injecting artful expressions into interior spaces
