Federica Cernuto

The brief for this project required me to design a pop up shop for the famous colour matching brand Pantone. The shop is to be placed inside Selfridges, in Oxford Street, for a limited amount of time, with the aim to promote Pantone products. The design of the shop that I produced is an analogy between crystals and colours. Crystals are born out the combination of other elements and conditions, just like the way colours are a combination of other colours. I chose vivid and summery colours as this is the period during which the shop is to be opened. The colourful crystals blossom at the back wall of the shop, representing the concept of creating through colours. This also explains the logo "pantone, the power of colour to create". The counter in the front serves as a surface for customers to make Pantone branded origami, that they will then be able to bring home as a reminder of the experience.

Top view

I thought I'd share with you this lovely lady I hung out with in my kitchen last monday!

As I said, I made another box! well I made two of them, but the other one is not quite done yet. This box was tailored for my portfolio. I wanted the projects to look organised, and tell a story, sort of. I decided to create something to represent each project, so with the holiday doors from Nightmare before Christmas in mind, I designed my portfolio.

I made the box out of grey board and card board, then I lined the black exterior using PVA and black cotton. I was looking for some kind of cotton with more texture, but I wasn't able to find it. 

Sometimes when I am falling asleep I get all these random pre-dream images in my head, and a couple of weeks ago I had the image of a small town (like the one where I spend the summer in Italy) surrounded by clouds, so I drew it.

This is the last project I did for uni. It's for the D&AD student award. The brief required to choose an issue and a Unilever brand, and make a design that would bring a positive impact to the audience. I chose Lipton and the issue of health and wellbeing. My solution was the Treahouse: an installation to be placed in Southbank for visitors to enjoy a tea on and bring home one of the pollutants-absorbing plants available. Below are some of the pictures I took of the structure.

The structure was all designed on illustrator and then lasercut by a very skilled laser cutter. The tricky bit was assembling it and bending the plywood different directions. To do so I had to steam each piece, using a very professional steamer (a water-filled pan with a cooling rack on top) and carefully bent them using a piece of styrofoam as a mould.

some pieces came off in the process, but overall I am quite happy with the result. Designing each piece flat made me realise just how important it is to get all the sizes right.

There are more elements relative to this project, but as I understand from the D&AD conditions I am not allowed to show anything that contains the lipton logo... and the rest of the images do! So much for that.

Just for funzies. For Valentine's day, for my boyfriend. I was not sure what to do. So I made a box. And then I filled with little bags. And then I filled the little bags with little surprise, chocolaty ones. Here's the box.

On my way to Ottawa this winter, I had a five hour layover in Philadelphia. Having watched movies for the past seven hours sitting on a plane, I spent most of my time walking around the airport. Some parts of the airport are quite old, with low ceilings and awful yellowish lighting, which combined with the tacky christmas decorations would make any Santa in the world shiver. The only thing that warmed up the environment seemed to be the rocking chairs that were scattered on the sides of the hallways. But I soon found out that there was something else.

First I ate the healthiest thing I could find, a blueberry yogurt, then I started exploring. Despite the tasteless decorations and the general lack of warmth, the five hours I spent in the Philadelphia's airport were surprisingly pleasant and entertaining. As I found out later, in 1998 Philadelphia's airport started an exhibitions program, which would bring art and culture in the airport with the aim to provide the travellers a unique cultural experience. The exhibitions rotate throughout the year to touch different themes. What links them is the fact that the artists are all from Philadelphia.

The first exhibition I ran into was a series of dolls made using unconventional objects. Pens, bottle caps, brushes, buttons and other random everyday objects are given a second life by Ellen Benson who uses them to create human-like figures. Her style is inspired by South American art, and she visits Mexico every year to see local craft and ceramics. Ellen has made 600 dolls so far and aims at making one thousand. While I do find the idea of using everyday objects to make dolls very amusing, I think the artist should focus more on the quality rather than the quantity. Some dolls are very creative and the objects are used in a clever way to achieve original Michel Gondry-like designs. Others are disappointing.

As I walked on I ran into a band that was playing Christmas songs, which I thought was really cool and made the atmosphere more pleasant and warm. It's a shame I didn't manage to get a picture of them. The second exhibition I ran into was a series of ceramic sculptures by Victoria Gold. The star of her art was again something rather unconventional and unpopular: pigeons. I myself see the presence of pigeons in cities as a forced and unpleasant acquaintance. Victoria Gold looks at them from a different point of view, she learns from and about them by observing. They are not intruders to her eyes, but finely feathered friends with individual characteristics and personalities.

The last exhibition I saw was the one I liked the most. Metalsmith Susan Mayers created a series of chandelier-like sculptures made out of aluminium stripes. Each sculpture is well studied and the loops are meticulously balanced. The metal gives up its ordinary attributes to Susan's taste; it becomes graceful and organic, almost soft.

For my last university project, I had to design a chillax space for the MTV staff that works at the headquarters building in Camden Town, London. I begun with researching MTV. I also made a survey and then asked people who work in offices to fill in. I used the data I collected to design the space, to fit everybody's needs and to be a relaxing area to spend the break. 

The space (before) 

Outside of the headquarters building.

As I wanted the space to look alive, but not over coloured, I decided to go for a fun but organic feel, I chose soft colours and soft shapes inspired by things I saw at the borough market.

The nests on the right, inspired by ivy, were designed to provide a sense of privacy to the employees without making them claustrophobic. The seating area on the left can be used by the employees to have a cup of coffee or read a book. The bean bags sit on top of a felt rug that recalls grass.

The skylight on the roof allows enough light during daytime, and when it gets darker the bar glows along with the lamps by the wall and the lamp bulbs hanging on top of the nests. The customers can order something to eat or drink at the bar, behind which there is a living wall to makes the space look more lively.

I fell in love with Tim Burton watching Big Fish, Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood. But after a few let downs (Alice In Wonderland was the worst of them all) and an impressive number of unoriginal remakes featuring the three Ds (Danny Elfman, Johnny Depp and Dark stuff), I started to lose interest. Tim Burton's strong style was slowly fading into monotony. When I watch the trailer of Frankenweenie, I saw something different, something that was well hidden in Alice in Wonderland; so I decided to give it a shot.

Frankenweenie tells the story of Victor, a lonely boy that loses his dog and best friend Sparky in a car accident. Not being able to accept his loss, Victor figures out a way to bring him back to life. The film is a remake of Tim Burton's homonymous short film from 1984. It has only a few changes that make the moral of the story a little more complex and complete.

The design of the film, similar to most of Tim Burton's works, is very original and meticulous, with impressive results. While it had a sort of “home made” feel to it, the movements of the characters and their expressions were incredibly natural. It was decided to make the film black and white to match the story, the design of the characters and their personality. It also adds a slight Pleasantville feel to it, as the film touches the theme of ignorance and prejudice. The characters have the distinctive Tim Burton-style dark look. It doesn't necessarily match the overall mood of the movie, as some parts are quite humorous, but it works very well in the context nevertheless.

Luckily I got to see the Frankenweenie's exhibition at the BFI a few days before it was over. The exhibition included original drawings by Tim Burton and models from the set. I also got a creepy picture of me looking into Victor's classroom from the door. The staff was very informative, and they told me a few interesting facts about the making of the film. I knew that making a stop motion film is a matter of great patience and precision, but I only realise what amount of each is needed when I visited the exhibition. It takes an animator a whole week to produce 5.8 minutes of animation, and it took the same amount of time to make Victor's baseball costume.

During foundation year I tried different printing techniques: solar plate, wood cut, lino cut and screen printing. I was really fascinated by all of them, but I never fully understood the real potential behind each of them. After more than a year since the last time I even got close to the printing studio, I decided to give screen printing another try. I wanted a logo with a hand made look to it, so I decided to try something different from photoshop. I also recently watched a very cool documentary about Helvetica (the title is Helvetica), so I thought of trying to make my own font. I wanted it to be a mix between "kind" and "design" so I mixed straight lines and organic lines. It turned out a little bit "arabic" like my friend said, but I am ok with it after all. I designed it with illustrator first, and then I tried different colour combinations.

I know I could have probably achieved something really close to the final design if I made it with just photoshop and illustrator, but I really wanted to try something different. So I brought the design to the printing studio and printed it on different kinds of paper.

I always get something wrong, so that's why there is some noise on top of it, but I left it there because I kind of like it. Then I scanned it and played with it a little on photoshop.

didn't like this one

During the London Design Festival, I had the pleasure to visit Roca's gallery, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, in west London. Roca is a leading global bathroom brand, and for the 2012 London Design Festival, it organised an architectural biking tour that linked Earl's Court to the gallery.

Throughout the tour, the guide made a few stops and talked about the past and the close future of some of London's renowned architecture. Among them: Lots Road power station and Brompton cemetery. The tour was informative and the guide was very kind and helpful.

Once we reached the destination, we had the chance to walk around the gallery and ask questions about its design. Before entering, the facade introduced us to the organic theme of the design and walking in, I felt like a drop of water in its natural environment. The space represents perfectly the meaning of the brand in an innovative and modern way. The architecture takes inspiration by the movement of water, creating an organic space where Roca's designs are exhibited. The gallery also includes a meeting area.

A guide showed us around and told us the “behind the scenes” of the design. Constructing the space was tricky, as each piece that make up the ceiling and the walls is unique. They all have a specific spot allocated, creating a big 3D jigsaw and a striking effect. The floor is made out of resin and cement, and the ceramic tiles that cover some parts of the gallery, also have unique shapes that contribute at making the effect stronger. The different areas of the gallery are connected by big black and white water drops on the ceiling and on the walls.

While combing through London Design Festival's events page, I found out about the Prism tour at the V&A. The event was described in such way that once I was done reading about it, I knew less than when I began. It apparently had something to do with London. I booked a ticket on the website and the day after I was there 30 minutes early, charged with curiosity.

Prism is an installation commissioned and sponsored by champagne brand Veuve Clicquot to architect Keiichi Matsuda. It is located in an area of the V&A that was opened to the public for the first time for this event. To get to it, tours are scheduled every 20 minutes or so, and the visitors are led up to a narrow, to say the least, spiral staircase. Then, you find yourself in a round room, on top of the ceramics section of the museum.

The installation, hanging in the middle, has the shape of an irregular prism, and each face has a different colourful pattern. The prism works as London's hub: it receives real time data from all over the city, and then the data is decoded into animated patterns that react to it accordingly. The data includes how many barclays bikes are available in certain location, and how much energy is being used at 10 Downing street. The V&A was chosen as the location for the hub as it is London's centre of culture and design. The function of the installation is to connect the contemporary world of data and information to art, craft and design.

I believe the figure in the picture above is Keiichi.

The best part of the tour, was being able to speak to Keiichi Matsuda, the mastermind responsible for the project. This was really helpful to understand the idea behind each choice better, as well as how the final piece was achieved. Keiichi is always looking for new challenges and innovative ideas, this is why he was excited to work on this project. He explained me that 15 minds are behind the designs of the patterns: each of them researched London and the V&A to come up with a figure that relates well to the chosen data. Once the patterns are put together they create a patchwork-like composition. Japanese paper is used for the faces of the prism, as its rough finish, along with the patchwork effect, gives the installation a “craft” look, that links back to the museum. Five projectors inside the prism project the patterns onto the faces.

While walking towards the V&A, something curious caught my attention in front of South Kensington station: treelogy. 

The installation, by Bartlett School of Architecture, is made out of three (tree) pieces, each carrying a different tale from London's past. The trees (which in british culture represent the celebration of an achievement) were installed for the Olympics. 

The patterns covering all four sides of each piace and growing out of the top like branches, represent London and UK's greatest landmarks.

As my passion grew for ceramics and pottery, I decided to go to the Ceramics Fair that is being held at the Geffrye museum, as part of the London Design Festival, and will run until the 23rd of september. The museum set up a space in the lower ground floor of the building for 45 UK based artists to showcase and sell their work. I thought this would be a good chance to learn more about firing and glazing techniques. I was right: I put absolutely no effort in hiding that I know nothing about ceramics and all the potters I talked to were very keen to explain me the process behind their works. There were a few artists I especially enjoyed talking to.

The first artist I had the pleasure to talk to was Anja Lubach. Her portfolio includes mostly porcelain pieces, and I was attracted to her stall by the distinctiveness of her style. Anja teaches ceramics at the Greenwich Community College, and she mostly works with porcelain. Her pieces are incredibly meticulous, and I can only imagine the patience it must have taken to achieve such results. The way she tastefully balanced the focal point of her vessels and bowls, with the blank spaces is also remarkable. She had no rush and took her time to answer my questions and tell me about the technique she used. Talking with her I learned a lot about the basics of working with porcelain. She also gave me some suggestions on where to start to work with clay.

After walking around a little more, I had a chat with Helen Rondell, from Kent. Her style moulded around her travels in the US and the collection she was showcasing at the fair was inspired by native wedding vases. Her pieces, mostly vessels, are characterised by smooth opaque surfaces and neutral colours that resemble sea polished pebbles. I was really fascinated by the pattern she achieved on the surface of the vases. The organic shapes lead the eye along undisturbed, giving a beautiful sense of harmony. She kindly explained me more about the glazing and firing process she used to produce her pieces, that is a variation of the raku technique. I also really liked her business cards: the consistency of the paper reminds me of her vases, which is a very clever touch.

Before leaving I spent a good 20 minutes talking with Akiko Hirai, which was quite lucky as she was often busy with other visitors. She is based in London and teaches at Kingston University. Her pieces are characterised by rough surfaces, earthy finishes (which she achieved through the reduction process) and irregular shapes: all these features work attractively together in creating pieces that are stony yet graceful. I also really liked the purposely rudimental style she adopted to display her collection. She will be showcasing her work at the Oxford Ceramics Fair too,on the 27th and 28th of October.

Below are some more pictures from around the fair.

This is some of Daniel Boyle's work, who explained me the technique of throwing salt on the pottery pieces when it is at its highest temperature to achieve the effect that you see above.  

Lovely work, and lovely person, too.

Being an interior design student, I often have to work on creating 3D visuals that reflect well my ideas. My favourite type is model making, and this led me to experiment and research different materials. In the past few months, I have developed a passion for ceramics and pottery. The first thing I went to see within London's Design Festival, was New Departures, a solo exhibition by German ceramist Gabriele Koch.

The exhibition is being held at London'sContemporary Ceramics Centre and will be open until October 6th. In the exhibition, it is possible to see her most recent work, as well as past collections. This allows the visitors to see the way her style shifted. Gabriele Koch was born in Germany and spent most of her childhood in the Black Forest. She then moved to London, where she attended a ceramics course at Goldsmiths College.

Gabriele's latest collection revolves around the contrast between textures and colours. The roughness of the dark earthy clay with the smooth surface of porcelain, the black with the white. Then, in other pieces, the roles invert, and the porcelain is given a rough edgy finish, while the black clay is glassy and shiny. Compared to her past work, the shapes of the vessels are less organic and even simpler, allowing the eye to focus on the colours and the decorations. The patterns on the older pieces that she produced are more organic and natural, but they still play a harmony/contrast game with the shapes and the textures.

A few weeks after the set design course was over, my friend Giacomo (see the Festival of the world at Southbank post) called me and told me that he was currently helping with the production of a short film by his friend Shinhye, and that they were looking for a location to shoot a few scenes. Since my flat was going to be free for the dates scheduled for the shooting, I gave my availability. I also offered to help with the set dressing, since I thought that would have been an interesting experience and an occasion for me to learn. I showed the flat to Shinhye and she really liked it. She was really thankful, as they were having troubles finding a good location for an affordable price.

The film is about a young working couple, Felix and Leanne, that live in a studio flat in London (my flat!). Everything seems to be going well, until Felix starts to fear that their relationship is falling apart. He then goes through a series of dreams and fantasies that his mind created out of the fear of losing his girlfriend.

The film was entirely shot in London, in 4 different locations: my flat, another flat and a cafe. A few scenes were also shot in the street. Three scenes were shot in my flat, two in the bedroom and one in the living room. In his dream, Felix wakes up in a dirty, messy flat, where he lives a different reality he created in his mind. My flat was chosen in contrasts to the other flat.

When the crew arrived (around thirteen people) I realised just how professional it was going to be. Giacomo and I took pictures of the shooting and helped with the preparation of the set and the props. We started shooting at 6 PM and finished at 3 AM. The crew included; the director (Shinhye), the producer (Giacomo), a director of photography, a cinematographer, a camera operator, a make up artist, two actors, a film slate guy.... and the camera was so big I feel like it should be included in the crew list. Everyone in the crew studied in the same school, London Film Academy, and the equipment also came from there.

The first room we set up was the bedroom. The scene was really simple, it involved Felix and Leanne going to bed. Nevertheless, the scene was shot several times as everything was done with great precision and even the smallest noise meant that another take was necessary. I never realised how many planes go past my area. Several shots of the same scene from different angles were done as well, to use later on during the editing.

For the second scene we moved to the living room. This scene was a bit more complicated and required more camera movements. Giacomo and I heated two dishes of carbonara that we needed as props for the dinner sequence. One of the members of the crew told us a trick they use in cinema to make a dish look hot and steamy. This involves hiding a tampon, that was previously dipped into boiling water, inside the dishes. We skipped that bit, we're not at that level just yet. One thing we had to be careful about was continuity. This means that if we had to shoot the same scene from different angles, it had to look as if the camera just changed position. We took a picture of the dishes of carbonara to make sure that they would look the same in every shot.