Celia Reid - Cards & Gifts

This afternoon, we chat to Inspired:London featured designer, Celia Reid.

What is the name and background behind your company?

I wanted to keep the name of my company nice and simple and so went with using Celia Reid Cards & Gifts.  It’s great that people know me by my first name and can easily identify me and my work.  By having ‘Cards & Gifts’ at the end of my name you can generally get the idea of the kinds of products I design and make.

I’ve always been very creative and knew I wanted to be a designer from a very young age.  I would always take part in artistic opportunities at school and so it was a natural progression to study Art & Design at college.  From there, my interests became more focused and I went on to study a BA (Hons) in Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern Design at the University of East London.  It took me a while to find my style of work and it wasn’t until my final year that I started using wallpaper, stitch and print for paper products and transferring some of those designs onto textiles for soft furnishings.

Where are you based?

Walworth, SE17 in my home studio.

How long have you been in business for?

I have pretty much been in business since graduating in 2004 but have always been working in other jobs alongside the designing and making.  I had my first exhibition in the October of that same year and haven’t looked back since.

What do you love most about living in London?

I love the fact that everything is pretty much on your doorstep.  There are so many beautiful museums, galleries and markets that you can take inspiration from.  There is also a great creative community in London.

Who or what inspires you?

I love the Victoria &Albert Museum!  I have always been inspired by decorative and floral patterns. 

What advice would you give designers starting out?

Just get out there and do it.  You learn so much along the way and you won’t actually know what customers think of your products until you try them out.

What is new for your company?

At the moment I am working on a card range that will be designed specifically for printed cards.  I want to branch out more into wholesale so need to produce some cards that are not entirely handmade.  I also miss being in a print studio and so will be working more with screen printing on the wallpaper to produce a range of products for the home.