Designers
Liam Hopkins
Liam Hopkins was born in Manchester, England. At an early age, curiosity led him to experiment with everyday objects, and by taking them apart and re-building them he began to learn about the nature of their construction and material use. In 2001, Liam enrolled on a Three Dimensional design course at Tameside Technical College in Ashton-Under Lyne, where he studied the design process further, enabling him to explore the potential of many different materials. He then went on to study a BA(Hons) in Three Dimensional Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, discovering a niche in the design and making of furniture. He is heavily influenced by the structures and colours of nature, especially the flowing form of trees. This association with nature is an important aspect of his work, guiding the aesthetic and material choices in his work. In 2006 Liam set up studio Lazerian in Manchester, England- where he develops and creates his own experimental designs, collaborating with other designers and producing other chosen designers work under the Lazerian brand, as well as working on unique commissions for clients worldwide.
Richard Sweeney
Richard Sweeney was born in Huddersfield, England in 1984. From a young age he displayed a natural ability as a creator, producing highly detailed observed drawings of his surroundings. Throughout his education, he found himself torn between the academic and the artistic, and despite pressure from his college tutors to apply for Oxbridge he opted for art school to continue his creative development. Although determined to become a graphic designer, Richard discovered a natural talent for sculpture at Batley School of Art and Design in 2002. His keen eye for detail and proportion transferred well into three dimensional media, and he began experimenting with sheet materials including paper, cardboard and laminated wood. This led him to the study of Three Dimensional Design at the Manchester Metropolitan University, where he concentrated on the hands-on manipulation of paper to create design models, which ultimately developed into sculptural pieces in their own right. Richard’s practice combines the disciplines of design, photography, craft and sculpture, resulting in a varied output of work including graphic design and public sculpture commissions. Combining hand-craft with computer aided design and CNC manufacturing techniques, Richard seeks to maintain an experimental, hand-on approach, utilising the unique properties of often mundane materials to discover unique sculptural forms.
Jason Chart Davies
Jason is a designer who explores three dimensional jewellery forms by working hands-on with flexible sheet materials such as paper and plastic. He has always gained satisfaction from the construction of unique sculptural structures, cutting and bending his chosen medium by hand into exciting three-dimensional forms, which have an organic quality to their appearance. In jewellery, he explores material flexibility through the use of multiple, repeated components, which are combined to create intricate, sculpturally expressive pieces. Jason’s creations are bourne of hands-on investigation into material, and through this approach he is currently developing designs for furniture and lighting. With his unique jewellery pieces he explores material flexibility, and boundaries through cutting and bending circular strips into a form to create an original piece. The jewellery pieces are formed to be contemporary and sculpturally expressive. Jason also works in lighting and sculptural forms with the same techniques.
