Meet the Maker!
Hello
I’m Emma, to start things off, I’d like to introduce myself and tell you how I became known as the designer of the Everyday mugs, or as people like to call them ‘the mugs with the dents’.
I grew up in North London’s Crouch End (where I’m still based), and I’ve been making things with my hands ever since I was a child, so I jumped straight into creative education. A 3D Craft degree at Brighton University lead to an MA in Design at Central Saint Martins, after which I set up my design studio in 2007. I now split my time between making and teaching on the Central Saint Martins BA Ceramic Design course.
My large Everyday mug is what I’m best known for. The shape has had a long evolution, beginning with my experimental drawings, photographs and three dimensional studies of the human body, and leading through to material explorations in clay and metal to represent these sensual lines and forms. After a lot of research into functional design and studying how people interact with objects, I played with the notion of functionality by adding handles to my sculptural vessels – suddenly they were jugs and mugs, and it all clicked into place! I call myself a designer and maker, but there is certainly a sculptural quality in my work that can be held and experienced.
To me clay is so exciting because it’s a material with endless possibilities, and I love experimenting with it. Yes, working with clay can be soothing, but you also have to be very focused! The shape of my Everyday mug has taken me years and years to perfect. I hand throw each piece on my potter’s wheel, the tactile, organic nature of the material juxtaposing my precise aesthetic – I’m drawn to geometric forms but also enjoy the way I can manipulate the soft clay to interrupt sharp lines and angles.
My big break was when The Conran Shop placed a large order for my Everyday mugs –now my mugs and wider ceramic range have been sold all over the world, in iconic British shops such as Liberty London, Twentytwentyone in Islington and The Newt in Somerset, and in stores and restaurants across America and Asia. See the whole range (which incorporates a full tableware collection) at emmalacey.com and look out for a new collaboration with The Conran Shop next year.
The best thing about the business is the feedback I get, which makes me feel so wonderful. I am blown away by the number of people tell me things like ‘it really is my favourite mug’, ‘I use it everyday’, ‘it makes me smile’, or ‘it makes me happy’ – I hope you find the same with your mug (let me know!).