Even though I live in London, I don't often venture away from my neighbourhood or the centre, and I had no idea where the Isle of Dogs is until I looked it up on google. I have not been to the Craft Central's new venue since they moved across town more [...]

Sapphire Star, 2010

 
I am not sure why it took me so long to visit the 'Chihuly - Reflections on nature' exhibition at Kew Gardens, but I finally managed to catch it a few days before it ended. It was not the best day to visit Kew, but the autumn foliage made up [...]

 
Please Be Seated is a large-scale installation designed by Paul Cocksedge, and it is made from more than 1,000 scaffolding planks. Cocksedge collaborated with Essex-based high-end interiors company White & White to re-imagine and re-use the building wood. The curvy seating encouraged passerby to sit and relax with their books or lap tops, which [...]

 
Coal Drops Yard
 
This year, the ever-changing Kings Cross was chosen as the design district for the first time at the London design festival. Aside from the annual design trade show, DesignJunction, there were many exhibitions and activities taking place during the festival.
I received a trade preview invitation to visit Designjunction, so [...]

 
Over the past few years, I have been quite disappointed with design industry's 'slow response' in tackling the sustainability issues, and felt the same way when I visited trade shows and exhibitions at the London design festival. Finally, things have changed this year. Sustainability and handmade crafts became the main focus of [...]

 
 
One might expect museums like V & A or the Design Museum to dedicate an exhibition on the world’s most famous shoe designer, Manolo Blahnik. Yet the "An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blahnik" exhibition opened at The Wallace Collection, a smaller and less well-known museum converted from an opulent 18th century [...]

 
Unlike children today, when I think of my childhood, paper played a crucial role in my early days. Aside from drawing on paper, I collected paper bookmarks, writing paper, and stickers; I dressed up paper dolls with my classmates after school; I did origami and paper cutouts; I learned calligraphy and practised [...]

 
How many of us pay attention to the text and typography around us in the city? When we are rushing around the city, we tend to miss what is right under our noses. During the London Craft week, I joined the "Creative Inspiration Walk: Text in the City" organised by The Goldsmiths [...]

 
In my opinion, typography is the most underappreciated design field often neglected by the public. The term typography can be defined as the style, arrangement, and appearance of letters, numbers, and symbols; it is a means of visual communication. We are surrounded by all kinds of fonts in our daily lives, yet [...]

 
Ever since I became interested in indigo dyeing a few years ago, I noticed that the resurgence of natural indigo is also taking place around the world. The art and science of natural indigo dyeing is an important world heritage that connects us all, and its timely revival reminds us that this [...]