The last selection from our pick of New Designers comes from our very own city – Brighton. It was quite strange that as we wandered around the show we found a few products or displays which referenced our home city in different ways – all from different universities too.

Our first spot were these great sign posts, by Edward Fiddes from the University of Brighton. Featuring names we instantly recognised, on closer inspection the traditional looking structures housed myriad habitats for a whole range of insects and even birds.

Designed as multi functioning signs, they could be positioned in cities to give valuable housing opportunities to local resident insects. We hope these prototypes pop up in Brighton.

The introduction of QR codes into the sign posts was also a really lovely way of integrating information for people to interact with on the street and discover their local wildlife.

The second Brighton based spot were these lovely conceptually based pebbles from Ed Martin at Goldsmiths.

Using the concept of the souvenir pebble, the project challenged the idea of taking something from a location which may have not really lived there – it could be an imported pebble from another location. Plus, as it is illegal to remove anything from the beach, how could we have a true, location specific souvenir?

The result was a series of pebbles cast from one single pebble – each of which were embellished by local Brighton artists to give them a true sense of place, each with an authenticity certificate.

The last project was also referencing Brighton – Emilie Sheehan, also exhibiting with Goldsmiths had created a range called ‘Domestic Tourism’ featuring DIY ceramic coat of arms transfers for plates, and these lovely little DIY city guides, including one entitled Brighton.

As Brighton residents, we are quite often asked to pass on our little secret places in the city for shopping, eating, music and art, so we thought it was great that these booklets would give a resident the opportunity to document these locations for visitor friends and relatives.

So – three projects which referenced our lovely city of Brighton. A great way to wrap up our New Designers 2012 picks.

(images by claire potter design)