Say hello to our newest UAL exclusive products! These lovely napkins are the result of a student competition run by not just a shop’s Clio Delcour-Min. The competition asked students to submit a napkin design that could be printed twice and sold as a set of 2 napkins in not just a shop, following a brief to inform the design.
Congratulations to Palak Garg and Kosha Baldota for winning the napkin design competition! The winning designs are now available to purchase in-store and online. We hope you love them as much as we do.
We spoke with the winners, Kosha and Palak, to find out more about their designs, and how they approached the competition brief.
Kosha Baldota
How did you approach your design to ensure it had wide public appeal?
Just by making it colourful! I wanted to blend together different colour palettes. Warm tones signify energy and cool tones represent calmness. I believe the abstractness of the design will resonate with many, while still being pleasing on the eyes.
What is the inspiration behind your design?
My inspiration behind this design would be the maximalist culture, by creating an abstract blend of different colours, patterns, and textures, and composing them in a way to create unity among the forms. Overall I feel I was influenced by the things around me such as nature, art and pop culture.
What advice for other people to enter your future pattern design competitions?
I would encourage them to put themselves out there and go or it, if they feel their work would resonate with the brief. Explore different styles and forms, and design something which is on par with what’s new and popular.
Palak Garg
How did you approach your design to ensure it had wide public appeal?
I worked with a vibrant colour palette throughout the design. The design also has some recognizable repeating motifs – olives, peas, carrots, peppers, bananas and beans- a recipe for a fun dinner/meal! Which I think everyone would love to try making.
What is the inspiration behind your design?
The inspiration behind the design came from cooking in my kitchen and then looking for a napkin to clean up the mess. All my napkins seemed dull, and the food looked too interesting! So the idea of creating a colourful dinner time, food-inspired napkin sprung to me.
What advice for other people to enter your future pattern design competitions?
Having a pattern design portfolio/collection beforehand is a great way to quickly choose which designs you like the best. It is also good to think outside the box, as there can be too many similar patterns in the market. Also, colour choices are important to consider.