New Work: 1882
Domenic Lippa and his team have created an identity and packaging for the work of ceramicist and designer Emily Johnson, who is launching her exhibition at a private view tonight. The work is on show until 25 September as part of the London Design Festival.
The exhibition entitled “Boned in England – 200 White Lights” is a collection of repeat Fine Bone China Lights hand crafted in the North Staffordshire Potteries. Multiples of bisque and rumbled single white vessels contain diffused illumination creating a topography of light, emphasising the importance of British industry’s progression and future. Emily’s work takes a very traditional material and approaches it in a modern way.
Emily’s work follows in the steps of her forefathers who founded Johnson Brothers in 1882 in what was to become Stoke-on-Trent. She and her father paid homage to their heritage in the formation of 1882 Ltd this year for which this is their first collection.
The team decided to focus on the heritage of the brand by referencing the date of the foundation of the family company and the original Johnson Bros mark which featured a line under the ‘o’. This logo then features on all collateral picked out in a white foil which hints at the nature of the product as it reflects light. The serene nature of the product is matched by the clean, straightforward approach to the graphic identity.
Emily says of the collection: “With my first range of lights, Bone, I hope to convey a different interpretation of the traditional material that is bone china. The lights are technically very difficult to produce as their height and shape makes them nearly impossible to keep straight when firing but it has been worth it – the diffused glow highlights those very qualities that make it so hard to work with. And, as importantly, the lights are hand crafted in Stoke on Trent where my family has been producing china for five generations.”
Project Team: Domenic Lippa, partner-in-charge and designer, Jeremy Kunze and Lucy Groom, designers.