Tasked with designing and making working timepieces as part of their continuing studies, students in Year 10 were given the brief of designing clocks that would appeal to the target audience of Art & Soul – an independent retailer celebrating the talents of local artisans in Hull and East Yorkshire.

Using the abstract work of Sonia Delaunay and the Art Deco style of Raymond Templier as inspiration, the students set about making a variety of colourful designs using a range of skills - from Computer-Aided Design (CAD) to handicraft techniques. 

Sophie Lazenby, Teacher of DT, helped to guide the students through the project. Reflecting on the design brief and inspiration she said: “One of the reasons I wanted Year 10 to use the striking influences of abstract and Art Deco artists was to inspire some colourful and unique designs. In most cases, if we talk about clock design in general, the majority of people would likely come up with a basic circle with numbers. By steering the brief to encompass abstract influences, creativity took over and led to some stunning outcomes.”     

A considerable amount of hard work went into the project, with everything except the clock mechanisms being designed and made in school using CAD and CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) technology to create and cut the parts needed to realise students’ designs.

To help bring the project to life, the school partnered with Art & Soul’s Beverley outlet as a means of demonstrating the link between classroom creativity and developing artistry as an income stream or full-time future career.

Established in 2020, Art & Soul provides a platform for approximately 160 artists and makers to sell their work online and in their independent high street shops at Flemingate in Beverley, and the Fruit Market Hull. The products they sell broadly fall into six categories of Art, Cards and Stationery, Gifts, Homeware and Furniture, Jewellery and Accessories, and Photography.

Sophie added: “I was really keen that the students could see their work on display in a professional retail environment and I am grateful to Art & Soul for not only setting the project brief and supporting our students, but for also facilitating a visit which was both inspirational and fun.

The students were amazed by the shop and were thrilled when customers expressed interest in purchasing their designs. They were also really impressed by the quality of work on display from other creative artists.

To view their work in the context of a shop environment, alongside products from professional creators, was really powerful - opening up interesting conversations about future careers. It was also great to demonstrate that the scale of creativity is not restricted by business size, money or resources and that many artists work as individuals from home – creating bespoke items which generate income from sometimes limited means.” 

The visit to Art & Soul also enabled students to explore the business elements of artistry, with consideration given to the costings of raw materials and the profit margins they could expect after shop commissions were factored in. This further helped to apply classroom learning to real-life practical experience.

Erin Bullough, Customer Service Specialist at Art & Soul, said: “We put the clocks on display a week prior to the students’ trip to the shop and have continued to have them on show since. We have received so much positivity from both our artists and our shoppers about the talent and creativity of the students, with some asking to buy the clocks due to the originality of the designs and knowledge of the time and effort put into them.

It is imperative that we support young creatives and show them the career options available for artists and makers - Art & Soul saw this as our biggest responsibility for this collaboration with the school. We wanted to make the project as engaging as possible to enthuse the students and create work of the highest quality whilst tasked with a more professional brief."

A total of fourteen clocks went on display in the shop. To recognise and reward the hard work that went in to fulfilling the design brief, a number of prizes were presented to students for their efforts. In a competition judged by Art & Soul staff and customers, Marshall Bielby won the award for Best Design, with Christopher Faulkner and Kai Newton-Arnott following close behind in second and third place respectively. Meanwhile, James Harris and Robert Walker both received recognition for their outstanding outcomes and overall project work.

Alongside their visit to Art & Soul, the students also visited the Beverley branch of Baytree Interiors – a retailer that sells their own brand of distinctive and stylish designs at seven stores across the north of England - and the UK’s leading home furnishing retailer, Dunelm. This gave students the perspective to develop understanding of three similar businesses operating on different scales, from bespoke local creativity to mass-produced designs available nationwide.

Visiting all three retailers offered a valuable opportunity for the students to explore first-hand some of the many and varied careers that could be found within creative artistry and the wider field of Design Technology – either as fulltime careers in their own right, or so called ‘side-hustles’ that inspire creativity and supplemental income.

As an artisan herself, specialising in the creation of jewellery from old cutlery, Sophie Lazenby is no stranger to running a business alongside a full-time career. Sophie said: “An important point to get across is that many makers work in their own time as a means of pursuing their creative passion and making additional money. This is also great for mental health as it can often provide a welcome distraction and a means of switching off from the pressures of ‘the day job’ through being creative. It really helps contribute towards an effective work-life balance for the benefit of general well-being.”

Meanwhile, with the success of the clocks project behind them, the Year 10 DT students will shortly begin preparations for their final major project to complete the course in Year 11. This will see them follow a brief to create something unique, using a range of design skills and different methods of production, which will count towards their final grade.

ABOVE: Marshall Bielby won the award for Best Design.

ABOVE: Christopher Faulkner with his design (Second place)

ABOVE: Kai Newton-Arnott with his design (Third place)

ABOVE: The students’ work on display at Art & Soul’s shop in Flemingate, Beverley