The humble tea towel has long been one of not just a shop‘s most popular items. An artistic yet practical product, their versatility makes them a great gifting idea and are always useful around the kitchen.
As part of this year’s Christmas offerings, we commissioned five of our existing makers to transform their artworks into an exclusive tea towel for UAL. The result is five unique designs, showcasing their creators unique artistic flair and trademark styles.
Here we chat with our five designers, Anisha Oliver, Kimberly Ellen Hall, Palak Garg, Niki Usagi and Seda Kalkici about their approach to designing, experiences and take aways from the project, and their thoughts on doing the washing up.
Do you have any rituals when starting a new project?
Niki: I always imagine I’m a customer looking for a special gift for friends, family, or even myself. I don’t stop until I make something that makes me think, “Yes, this is something I’d buy!”
Seda: When I start a new project, I always get my huge sheet of paper out and brainstorm any initial thoughts. I also like to go out to a park with my sketchbook. I feel that if I’m stuck with ideas, they can flow more freely when I’m outside and inspired by the world around me.
Kimberly: I have kids and also do some teaching, so finding quiet time in the studio is usually a ritual in itself! My sketchbook practice is key to keeping fresh and being ready to take on new commissions. I try to draw in it every single day. I ask my students to do the same thing and really it’s from them that I learned how important it is to keep up that practice.
How did you go about the design process for your design?
Anisha: I sketched digitally first, exploring bold floral shapes and layering vibrant colours. Then I refined the pattern to fit the tea towel while maintaining flow, rhythm, and movement. Where I achieve a final design that celebrates energy, playfulness, and a splash of joy.
Palak: I created all the elements for the design using collage. I wanted to work with an analogue process, much like cooking food, so I made the different elements by hand, using colored papers, then scanned them and composed the final illustration in Photoshop. I chose a limited yet cohesive colour palette for the collage, that evolved as I experimented digitally. I added more greens and purples to make the design feel more ‘palatable’, evoking ingredients like purple aubergines, green spring onions, and yellow lemons. Honestly, I felt quite hungry while working on this brief!
How did you approach the brief?
Palak: I approached the brief in a playful, exploratory way—experimenting to find what worked best. I began by flicking through my sketchbooks, as I often rediscover forgotten ideas there. I found a sketch of my kitchen I had made while waiting for my dinner to cook one night, and it immediately felt fitting for a tea towel design. From there, I created more sketches of my kitchen from different angles and perspectives. I combined these into a final composition that turned out extra distorted and wonky, giving the objects a lot of personality—which I really enjoyed.
Did you have a particular person in mind when designing your tea towel?
Anisha: I imagined someone who loves colour, creativity, and small bursts of joy in daily life. Someone who enjoys playful, vibrant objects that make even routine kitchen tasks feel more inspiring.
What did you find most exciting about the project?
Kimberly: I love doing custom projects, and digging through my sketchbooks for a piece to bring to final for this was really exciting. Sometimes I don’t look back enough at my sketchbooks. It can be quite surprising to find little gems lurking in there.
Seda: The most exciting part was seeing the sample and having my design come to life in a physical product. Seeing how the illustration comes out on the texture of the fabric and how they work together was pretty cool. Holding my design in my hand is something that will always feel so special to me.
Niki: I’d never made a tea towel before, so I was excited to see how my design would work on fabric. It also has a specific kind of life because of its function: hanging folded on a rack or crumpled next to the oven, rarely spread out just to be admired. I wanted to create something with bold colours and strong contrast to catch the eye.
Anisha: Post production and packaging “Chroma Bloom” was the most exciting part. My design came alive and I could fully envision customers using my artwork daily, adding colour and energy to their kitchens.
What is the one key thing you will take away from this project?
Palak: I’ll definitely take away the pleasure of the process from this commission. The cutting and sticking of paper collages, and the fun of composing them digitally on screen. I also want to remember the feeling of seeing and holding the physical tea towel for the first time! It was so exciting to see my design come to life, exactly as I had envisioned it.
Are there any other products you would like to apply your designs to?
Kimberly: I have primarily worked as a surface pattern designer since finishing my MA so I am always exploring new things to put my illustrations on. My favourite has been to see them on children’s clothes because the samples are so cute! Lately I’ve been making my own papier-maché objects and it’s been super fun to make the objects itself and then add the pattern or design. I love getting to make both the form and the surface!
Do you find washing up a meditative experience, or the worst chore to do?
Niki: I actually like washing up. Running water feels very meditative, and I always make sure there aren’t any dried plates or calcified noodles stuck in the pans, so everything goes smoothly. I usually listen to an audiobook or podcast while doing it.
Seda: I hate washing up! I always get water spilt all down me so it’s definitely not a fun experience for me. At least the dishwasher exists, I don’t mind emptying that.
Kimberly: Ha! I actually have two teenage daughters and their job is to do the washing up. Sometimes I think about how it’s not long until they go off to university and I will be back at the sink. Maybe I will save this tea towel until that happens!
Will you be gifting your second tea towel, or keep it as a spare for yourself? If gifting, who will you give it to?
Palak: I’ll be gifting it! My mum is a huge collector of tea towels, napkins, and crockery, so it’s going to be her Christmas present this year. I really hope she likes it!
Niki: I’ve already given one to a very dear friend, and the second is for my mum, she’s the biggest cat person I know. I should probably buy one for myself for Christmas!
Can you list 3 things you could use a tea towel other than drying up?
Anisha: Wrapping gifts, lining a picnic basket, or using as a decorative piece to brighten a kitchen wall. Chroma Bloom is art as well as utility!
Seda: I think a few beautifully designed tea towels arranged on a table as placemats could look really good. You could also use them to drape down a shelf for décor, maybe under nice tableware or glasses, or even on a bookshelf. And I think they’d look great wrapped around a loaf of bread with some string tied around as a gift.
