Profile

Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1993, Helen Rawlinson has successfully established a career in lighting and textile design. Her work has incorporated illustration, print and machine embroidery with both 2D and 3D applications predominantly for the interiors market, with clients including Designers Guild, The Conran Shop and John Lewis.

In the last four years, following the successful introduction of printed lampshades exclusively for Heal’s, Helen has gone on to produce her own range of designs and now supplies her lighting collection to a variety of stores and independent retailers throughout the UK.

profile_lamp.gif (13683 bytes)
The designs are hand screen printed with either soft suede-like colours on opaque board, or matt creams and brights on translucent parchment. Each lampshade is perforated with machine stitching to reveal an illumination of tiny pinpricks when lit. It is this surprise element of dotted detail, which makes the collection so appealingly original.

To compliment the range, lamp bases are simply turned in natural beech in a balanced choice of shapes and finishes
Influences and ideas behind Helen's designs include:
Traditional block prints; Japanese paper-cuts; 1950s ceramics; appliqué textiles and folk art; simple stripes and natural pattern.
Her recent collection takes inspiration from New York sunsets and 1930s printed memorabilia
'While the style is retrospective, the lamps have strong elements of modern simplicity - we all want one.' - Time Out