Shai Akram & Andrew Haythornthwaite

PROFILE

Andrew Haythornthwaite and Shai Akram began their collaboration shortly after graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2006 on the Design Products course headed by Ron Arad. Their projects have taken them to China, New Zealand and now, back to the UK. Completed projects together range from interiors to commercial products, whilst they continue their independent explorations and experiments in their East London studio.

Their work springs from a curiosity of making processes combined with an appreciation of narrative, and the role it can play to define creative direction. Andrew's playful illustrations and stories fill his sketch books while his work reveals an attentiveness to detail. Shai’s projects often begin as short essays resulting in works that explore the relationship between objects and culture. Andrew and Shai also run workshops with students exploring ideas of context and storytelling in design.

Their work has been exhibited internationally and they have won several awards including Silver from the IDSA (America), Red Dot (Germany), Stringer Award (BeST, New Zealand) and Most Successful Design (China). Andrew has work in the permanent collections of MoMA New York and the Design Museum London while Shai regularly reports on emerging design for a range of organisations, most recently The British Council and Interni, Milan.

EXHIBITIONS / PARTICIPATIONS

Designers vs fruit and vegetables: Food Marketo, Milan April 2010
Apartmento, Lago House, Milan, April 2010
Container Ground, 100% Design, Tokyo. November 2009
Okay, Mother Space, London, September 2009
Mini Buon, Guerrilla exhibition, Zona Tortona, Milan. April 2009
Out of the Ordinary, QoH, London, March 2009
Off-cut Monsters, Brit Design Awards, Design Museum, London, March 2009
Kobold, Frankfurt Design Messe, Frankfurt, July 2008
100% Shanghai, Shanghai, July 2007
Co-habitation, St Etienne Biennale, St Etienne, November 2006
British Council Talented, Paul Smith, Curated by Tom Dixon and Thorsten van Elten, Tokyo November 2006
Art Council, Super Design Market, Truman Brewery, London, September 2006
No Man is an Island, Empire studios, London, July 2006
Generation, Royal College of Art, London, June 2006
Design Activism, Collaborative project with The British Council and local craftspeople of Jaipur, India. April 2006
Disturbance, Great Eastern Hotel. Curated by Roberto Reo & Daniel Charny, London, M ay 2006
Made by Machine, RCA Milan, Salon del Mobile, Milan April 2006
Talented, British Council Milan Curated by Tom Dixon and Thorsten van Elten Milan, April 2006
Work in Progress, Royal College of Art, London, December 2005
Living space Internos Gallery, Milan. Curated by Ron Arad. April 2005
10 Around Town, Solaris Public Space Exhibition, curated by Sun Microsystems London. March 2005
Oki-Yuki (Depth), Collaborative project with Kokuyo, Tokyo, March 2005
Setting Out, Contemporary Ceramics Gallery, London, January 2004
All the Young Dudes, Manchester Craft Centre, Manchester, August 2003
New Designers, Business Design Centre, London, July 2003
Earth and Fire, Ruford Craft Centre, Nottingham, June 2003
Degree Show, Manchester Metropolitan University, June 2003
The Bold and the Beautiful, On the Edge Gallery, Manchester, May 2003

AWARDS

Bar & Restaurant Design Awards - Lighting Scheme. Shortlisted for The Book Club. London 2010
China Design Awards - Most Successful Design / Product. China. 2008
IDSA - Gold / Product Category. United States. 2007
Red Dot - Best in Category / Product. Germany. 2006
Best Design - Stringer Award / Product. New Zealand. 2006
Distinction - Royal College of Art/ awarded for dissertation titled ‘Regarding Ornament’ MA Design
Products, London 2006.
10 Around Town- Solaris/ Public Space Exhibit, London 2005
Setting Out Award / Contemporary Ceramics, London. 2003
Step Award for Enterprise / Shell, Manchester 2002

CURRICULUM VITAE

Shai Akram

Born: 1976, UK

Education

MA Design Products, Royal College of Art, 2006
BA Three Dimensional Design, Manchester Metropolitan University. 2003
BA Architecture, Manchester School of Architecture. 1999

Employment

The British Council, The Incidental, Milan, Reporter. April 2009
Interni Magazine, World Design News Weekly, London Correspondent. November 2008 – Ongoing
(Collaborative project between Interni Magazine & Nokia Trend-labs).
Sense Worldwide, London: Research/Direction for T-Mobile. July 2008
Acland Holdings, Auckland, New Zealand: Brand director and designer January – April 2008
Kobold International, Xiamen, China. Art Director January – June 2007
Prop/Interior Stylist, London, Freelance. June 2003- October 2004
Chora - Institute of Architecture and Urbanism, London: Pt. 1 Architectural Ass. September 1999- May 2000.

Andrew Haythornthwaite

Born: 1980, New Zealand

Education

MA. Design Products: Royal College of Art, London. 2006
BA. Industrial design: Massey University, Wellington, NZ. 2001

Employment History

Ron Arad Associates, London: Designer. July 2008 - May 2009
Acland Holdings, Auckland: Design Consultant. April 2008
Creative Lab Ltd, Auckland: Freelance Designer. August 2007
Kumeu Industria, Auckland: Designer. December 2007
MOMA, New York: Exhibition Design. November 2007
Kobold International, Xiamen, China: Design Director. August 2006
Quack Ltd, Hong Kong: Design Director. February 2003
Knirps, Solingen, Germany: Design Assistant. October 2002
Creative Lab Ltd, Auckland: Design Assistant. February 2002