BA Product Design
Milly Kearns
I am a compassionate and innovative designer driven by creating thoughtful solutions that will make a difference. I believe good design is invisible, and should seamlessly improve a user's experience. I strive to achieve these user centric outcomes through extensive development, testing and a passionate pursuit for better things.
Clay in Company
Clay in Company has been set up to provide more comprehensive support for people who have recently been diagnosed with arthritis. The charity utilises existing social prescribing infrastructure to provide 6 week pottery courses where students are educated on long term arthritis management strategies and pottery simultaneously.
Through thorough analysis and testing of the sessions, it became apparent that individuals with arthritis struggled to make coil pots due to the repetitive motions involved in rolling and smoothing the coils. The accompanying assistive equipment has been developed to reduce joint strain in the wrist and fingers, empowering individuals to make a coil pot independently and improve their confidence when learning new skills.
The classes have been designed to support and connect individuals with arthritis, whilst encouraging lifelong learning and empowering students to recognise their condition does not define their potential.
The Candid Light
In response to rising loneliness in the workplace, and inspired by the British culture of connecting over a drink, the Candid Light has been designed to facilitate deep, meaningful conversation between colleagues.
The light subtly responds to the room's use, altering the atmosphere from calm and contemplative to lively and energetic as more wooden coasters are removed and used to chat over a cuppa. The ambient lighting emanates off the twisted brass base, creating a central focus to illuminate conversation between colleagues.
Every element of this lamp uses quality materials from the brass base to the glass core, expertly crafted and harmoniously paired to highlight the expressive marks made on each handmade coaster. Every collection is unique and have been expertly turned, their true form emerging slowly from locally coppiced branches and then diligently crafted at the pace of the drying process. The office can choose to receive their coasters sculpted by the individual, local maker, or they can opt to carve the plain coasters as an opportunity for staff development and team building.