I’ve worked with Contemporary Applied Arts (CAA) for a long time – they were one of my first clients when I first went freelance and later I went on to help create content for their website and Instagram account and as part of the website re-design team. The website was very much to be centred around images and I have a background in developing picture libraries, having helped create the picture library for what is now the Museum of the Home some time ago.
CAA have a long and rich history, having been established as a membership organisation for craftspeople to advocate for good design in Britain after the Second World War. They have continued to promote the study, appreciation and understanding of the fine crafts in Britain ever since and represent many of the most talented applied artists living and working in the UK today in the disciplines of ceramics, furniture, glass, jewellery, metal, paper, textiles and wood, selected by a panel of their peers.
Their new website was designed not only to promote these values but also to include an online shop so people across the world could experience CAA and purchase pieces by their makers to have in their own home. As it turned out this new feature would become even more vital as the UK went into lockdown not long after the facility was launched.
The expert knowledge that the highly specialised CAA team have helps ensure this mission is put into action, and means that if you’re looking to make a purchase they can tell you all about the work, the maker’s techniques, advise what might work well in your home and how to put pieces together. All the displays in the CAA gallery are carefully curated to show work that compliments each other, reflects a particular theme or mood, and just always look fantastic and unique! This was something we were keen to replicate in the images on the website, too, to allow people to have an experience as close as possible to that of visiting the gallery itself, even when they physically couldn’t do so. One of the ways we did this was through a series of Curated Displays, styled by the gallery team.
Shown here are some of my favourite images that we created – Curated Displays, more general images of the gallery and a few objects, all of which help communicate what’s special about Contemporary Applied Arts and the maker members that form it, but I encourage you to explore the CAA website further to see the truly unique pieces they have.
Contemporary Applied Arts is in Marylebone, London. They are currently closed due to COVID-19 restrictions but you can explore their website and make purchases from their online shop.