We’ll be featuring a series of interviews with One Year One exhibitors and #ND17 Award winners about their experience exhibiting at New Designers. First up is Hannah Croft who exhibited her textiles in One Year On under the business name MUUNA.
Participating in One Year On 2017 has been a fantastic learning curve for me and an amazing experience for presenting my work for the first time independently and as a business. As a textile designer and developer, my intentions for the show were less about selling product directly but about promoting my name and showcasing my skills and services. Personally I found the lead up to the show, in regards to the logistical and creative preparations, the most invaluable. This included planning my display, organising equipment and reaching out to invite potential networks and clients. Throughout this time I’ve noticed a shift in my confidence, in some ways ‘One Year On’ marked a transition between dreaming about what I want to achieve and starting to realise my aspirations. At the show I was scouted by Trendease Intl so will be off to Brussels in September for the tradeshow MoOd, which I am so excited about. This will be my first international show and another big step, but I feel more prepared and confident having had the experience that I had at ‘One Year On’.
During the show I had some amazing feedback as New Designers attracts such a varied audience with a mix of industry, public and educators it gives you an opportunity to have some really enriching conversations and gauge a response or advice across many platforms. This experience has reaffirmed the potential contexts and markets for my work and the networks I need to reach out to in order to fulfil this. As it’s an interdisciplinary show, especially for ‘new designers’, I found it to be a really supportive and encouraging environment, full of positive ambitious exhibitors from a range of craft backgrounds showcasing exciting and inspiring work.
‘One Year On’ is a lovely show to be part of and I would recommend it to anyone in the first year of their creative practice. There is a lot of support and advice available in the lead up to the show, plus help with curation and marketing. The curator, Rheanna Lingham, did an absolutely fantastic job and the whole New Designers team were so efficient. I would say to anyone thinking of applying- to go for it, opportunities lead to opportunities!