Since joining the fold last September, Charles Trevelyan has become the poster boy of how Hidden Art can help you and your business. He has won two Design for Production briefs, exhibited with Hidden Art in Milan, won a Design for Commission brief and he is joining us at 100% Design.

 

Charles says: "Hidden Art acted as a catalyst for me.  I started to network with a lot of designers, I get feedback on my work and how things are going."

 

Back in his native Australia, Charles left engineering with a desire to be more creative, so he studied 3D design, sculpture and art history. He was playing in an electro-funk band, doing sculptural commissions on the side and graphic design work for bands' album covers before coming to the UK at the end of 2000. He continued working as a freelance graphic designer but wanted to get into furniture and product design, so his next stop was Hidden Art.

 

"Hidden Art gave me an opportunity to show my work and gain exposure. I found an audience that I would not have had access to otherwise. Winning briefs through the Hidden Art Design Brokerage has allowed me to work with manufacturers and realise pieces."

 

Charles' designs bring a distinct graphic identity to his product and furniture design. It is this graphic design element that has significantly contributed to him winning Design Brokerage briefs as he aims to present the product in a way that gives the casual viewer the best possible impression of it.

 

His product design speaks for itself - Charles' Designer-Makers Directory page regularly tops our website's hit report.

 

He says his engineering background helps him in terms of structure and materials and gives him a sense of general perspective of what will work.

 

"I get inspired by non-visual media, like going to a gig that gets you thinking. It’s more about ideas and how to interpret them rather than something visual. I like being out and about biking, snowboarding, taking photographs. I like sitting working in a café or bar somewhere else to get a different perspective."

 

But does he miss being in a band? "Music in a band is time consuming. I don't have time!"

 

 

 

 

Yasmine Chinwala, September 2005