Design studio Tom Pigeon creates beautiful, abstract patterns for prints, jewellery and homeware, with inspirations from the natural light and landscape of Scotland.
Husband and wife founders Kirsty and Pete Thomas are both interested in designs that give people enjoyment, improving their lives, even in small ways. “Having the opportunity to create work that is accessible to people and makes their lives happier and more colourful is a real privilege,” says Kirsty.
Pete believes “that beautiful things and well-made things should not be the privilege of the few” and that good design should be available to everyone. “That is why I am drawn to things that can be made in multiples using batch production processes such as screen-printing, ceramics and metalwork,” he adds.
They each worked in creative industries and design before setting up Tom Pigeon, with Kirsty working “in fashion, graphics, retail and education”. However, today she feels “really lucky that I don’t need to specialise in one area – Tom Pigeon is about creating work that we love and want to live with”.
Pete’s journey to Tom Pigeon involved “a foundation course which completely put me off studying at university”, a clothing company “which I ran into the ground within six months as I had no grasp of the finances” and launching Uniform, a design agency now rated in the top 50 in the UK by Design Week. The company is now run by its other founders, who all met at university.
Scotland’s natural environment plays a huge role in the work of Tom Pigeon, although the inspirations for the shapes of jewellery or on prints aren’t always obvious. “On first glance you might not look at one of our prints and think of a beach or a harbour because the forms are really pared back,” Kirsty says.
“I like to seek out the rhythm and balance in abstract compositions of shape and colour – our Shipwreck print series explores the rhythm and colours of objects washed up on our local beaches,” she adds, with Kirsty taking particular pride in a recent print project inspired by the architectural shapes in the V&A’s new Exhibition Road Quarter.
Entrance prints, inspired by the V&A’s Exhibition Road Quarter
Pete has “always been interested in minimalism”, both in terms of how something looks but also in terms of “clarity of communication”. “It’s a generalisation, but I believe that simple things are often easier to understand, to use, to connect with,” he adds, as well as enjoying the creative challenge of working within limits and trying to achieve a simple end product.
Across the work of Tom Pigeon what is clear is a commitment to beautiful quality, but also to fun and enjoyment. “I like work that can tell a story but also raises questions and doesn’t take itself too seriously,” Kirsty says, with both the colour of seaside ice creams and the shapes of harbours in the East Neuk of Fife influencing their designs.
We are proud to add Kirsty and Pete to our Design Champions, as creators of a successful design business that is thriving by making affordable, beautiful, fun design that brings joy into people’s lives.
To find out more, please visit the Tom Pigeon website.
The V&A Dundee Design Champions are inspirational designers creating high-quality work and helping to enhance people’s lives, or champions of the power of design to improve the world.
We will announce 50 Design Champions in the run-up to the museum opening on Saturday 15 September 2018.
V&A Dundee’s Design Champions project is working with Dezeen as its media partner.
Dezeen is the world’s most popular and influential architecture and design magazine, with an audience of 2.5 million unique visitors each month.
