2013 Review
For those who have been keeping up with our
activity, you will know that we have been exploring many new avenues in 2013
including make it yourself and downloadable products (MIY), screenprinting and
bespoke commissions. This culminated with a shift in focus from wholesale to
retail trade at the latter end of 2013 with a week-long appearance at
Liverpool’s Urban Winter Village (container market) in December and the
introduction of the new Mental Baggage series by designer Lance Walker.
Urban Winter Village
Christmas saw us present dozens of
REthinkthings products and work by other noted designers to Liverpool’s first
shipping container pop-up market, the Urban Winter Village at Williamson
Square.
Kaspa lamps, Bauhaus birdfeeders, Scumbags
and Accent teatowels were among the attention grabbers at the UWV. Despite one
day of howling wind and rain we loved the opportunity to meet so many people
and show off work by creative British designers. We also got the chance to meet
lots of other stallholders, many of which were new British brands with serious
creative vision, it felt refreshing to gain feedback direct from end users and
the whole experience gave us real insight and food for thought going forward.
As part of the year-end fun we ran a huge
sale on many items on our web site. Many of these are still discounted for a
limited period (whilst stocks last), to advantage of these, click here.
Mental baggage collection – Orwellian inspired
The headlines coming out of Downing Street
and Washington DC this year have had a certain Orwellian quality to them. Unprecedented
news of widespread eavesdropping, constant surveillance and the omnipresent
directive to fear terrorism at any moment has us in a constant state of
anxiety.
Combine that with the news last spring of
austerity measures, here and in other European countries, while the ultra-rich are
hiding their money away offshore, the new economic and political landscape
becomes clear and its making many of us indignant!
Designer Lance Walker joined us in late
2013 with a series of cotton tote bags bearing contemporary versions of the
Newspeak slogans that featured heavily in George Orwell’s classic dystopian
novel 1984. Presented as bold
statements of the official party line, these bags espouse the current party
slogans:
SURVEILLANCE IS SERVICE
FEAR IS SECURITY
AUSTERITY IS WEALTH
These new bags were launched at the Urban
Winter Village last December and have been selling steadily as public focus
increases on such topics. Make your statement against thought control with one
(or all three) of these statements parodying the party line - purchase here at the introductory price of just £5!
Aside from new product launches and pop up
stores, Director Ilsa Parry continues to remain involved with the promotion of
a wider mission for design. Her manifesto for Rethinkthings and her own
consultative approach to creative work remains strong as she continues to seek
opportunity for sustainable engagement and creative awareness through
commercial activity. Ilsa Believes that design has the power to transform the
frame of mind, and as such she was asked by BoConcept last November to host a
40 minute talk on what constitutes good design. You can read more about this here:
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