Honorary Members
Design-Nation Honorary Membership recognises individuals whose creativity, experience and advocacy have made a significant contribution to contemporary craft and design, as well as to the ongoing growth and spirit of Design-Nation.
As voluntary ambassadors and advocates for our organisation, Honorary Members support our mission to champion contemporary makers and designers across the UK. Their involvement may include mentoring, contributing to talks, exhibitions and CPD events, participating in selection panels, representing Design-Nation at sector events, and helping us connect with wider creative networks.
This inspiring group of practitioners brings invaluable knowledge, insight and encouragement to our community, strengthening opportunities for both emerging and established makers. Collectively, our honorary members represent an extraordinary breadth of practice spanning glass, ceramics, textiles, interiors, fashion, socially engaged design and public art. Their careers encompass internationally recognised exhibitions, pioneering studio practices, education leadership, public engagement and industry collaboration.
We are proud to celebrate their achievements and grateful for the experience, generosity and creative leadership they bring to Design-Nation and the wider craft and design community.
In alphabetical order, our honorary members are:
Amy Cushing is a contemporary glass artist whose practice explores the interplay between colour, light and botanical forms. Inspired by sunlight, tropical landscapes and the natural world, her work sits at the intersection of art, design and high-end craft, combining sculptural form with immersive colour and material experimentation.
Working across both collectible artworks and ambitious site-specific installations, Amy creates suspended glass compositions for corporate, commercial, healthcare and residential settings. Her installations use graduated colour, shadow play and fluid movement to create atmospheric, non-static environments that shift with changing light.
Her Paradise series draws on decades of experimental hot and cold glass techniques, evoking escapist scenes inspired by equatorial climates, lush vegetation, coral formations and exotic flora. Balancing rigid structures with fluid glass elements, these sculptural works capture fleeting moments of transformation shaped by heat, colour and material response.
Originally trained in Public Art at Chelsea School of Art, Amy’s multidisciplinary background spans drawing, painting, ceramics and glass. Her process-led practice continues to focus on experimentation, intuitive mark making and the emotional and sensory qualities of colour and light.
Ella Doran is a designer, educator and creative leader whose interdisciplinary practice explores material narratives, colour and regenerative approaches to making. Working across textiles, interiors, furniture and spatial installations, she combines studio experimentation with industrial production to create thoughtful and environmentally conscious design.
An early innovator in digitally printed textiles during the late 1990s, Ella has consistently explored the relationship between materials, storytelling and everyday objects. Her work foregrounds material literacy and circular design principles, encouraging wider conversations around sustainability, creative reuse and regenerative practice.
Alongside commissioned projects for public and private clients, Ella is co-founder of URGE Collective, a platform dedicated to systems change through regenerative design, circular economy training and cross-sector collaboration. She has delivered lectures, workshops and participatory projects for organisations including the Barbican, the V&A and Clerkenwell Design Week.
Ella is also a founding member of Design-Nation and continues to advocate for the value of collaboration, education and creative community within the craft and design sector.
Jo Cope is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice sits at the intersection of craft, fashion, performance and social engagement. Best known for her sculptural handmade shoes, she uses leather, wood and historically rooted materials to explore themes of identity, memory and human experience.
Working across installation, film, performance and participatory projects, Jo reimagines footwear as vessels for storytelling and emotional connection. Collaboration and social engagement are central to her practice, often amplifying overlooked voices and lived experiences through craft-led narratives. Her award-winning project Shoes Have Names, created in collaboration with the homelessness charity Shelter, exemplifies her commitment to socially engaged making.
Jo’s work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, the Hungarian National Museum and the Venice Design Biennial. A longstanding advocate for creative networks and peer support, she continues to champion the importance of organisations such as Design-Nation in supporting sustainable creative careers and fostering meaningful connections across the craft sector.
Margo Selby is a British textile artist and designer renowned for her distinctive woven textiles exploring colour, geometry and structure. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2001, she has developed an expansive interdisciplinary practice that bridges art, craft, design and industry.
Weaving sits at the heart of Margo’s practice, informing both her handwoven artworks and the wider output of Margo Selby Studio, which produces textiles for interiors, architectural spaces and industry collaborations. Her work continually explores the relationship between hand and machine, craft and technology, balancing experimental processes with the precision and structure inherent in weaving.
Colour is central to Margo’s creative language. Through complex woven constructions, she investigates the interaction between colour, thread and light, creating richly layered compositions with depth, rhythm and movement. Her innovative approach to colour was recognised in 2021 with the award of the Turner Medal for Britain’s Greatest Colourist.
Nina Moeller is an interior and furniture designer whose practice creates contemporary spaces and bespoke furniture for residential, commercial and cultural projects. Based in West London, her work combines a refined understanding of space, materiality and craftsmanship with a deeply collaborative and client-focused approach.
Drawing inspiration from nature, architecture, literature and art, Nina creates interiors and furniture that are elegant, considered and highly personal. Alongside large-scale interior projects, she designs bespoke furniture pieces ranging from seating and tables to cabinetry, each informed by a sensitivity to detail, proportion and atmosphere.
Over the past three decades, Nina has developed an extensive body of work across the public, commercial and private sectors, creating environments that balance functionality, creativity and timeless design.
Peter Layton is one of the pioneering figures of the British Studio Glass movement. Born in Prague in 1937, he arrived in Britain as a refugee in 1939 before later discovering glass while teaching ceramics in the United States during the 1960s. A pivotal encounter with Harvey Littleton and the emerging studio glass movement transformed his creative direction and led to a lifelong dedication to glass.
For more than five decades, Peter has been at the forefront of contemporary glass practice as both an artist and mentor. In 1976 he founded London Glassblowing, now internationally recognised as one of the UK’s leading glass studios and galleries. Through the studio, he has nurtured generations of artists and helped establish a vibrant creative hub centred on collaboration, experimentation and excellence in making.
Alongside his own internationally exhibited practice, Peter has played a major role in championing glass within the wider craft sector. He was a founding member of British Artists in Glass, helped establish the Contemporary Glass Society, and has represented the UK at glass symposia around the world. His colourful and painterly works are held in major public and private collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum.
At 88, Peter remains one of the world’s oldest actively practising glass artists, continuing to work closely with his studio team in London.
STUART AKROYD
Stuart Akroyd is a contemporary glass artist whose vibrant sculptural works are recognised for their fluid asymmetrical forms, rich colour and strong sense of movement. After discovering hot glass while studying at Sunderland University in 1985, he went on to establish a distinctive practice rooted in experimentation, craftsmanship and technical precision.
Following postgraduate study in Brierley Hill and an early career in the Lake District, Stuart established his own studio in Sunderland in 1991 before later relocating to Nottingham. Alongside developing his internationally exhibited practice, he has also supported emerging makers through teaching and mentoring within higher education.
Inspired by natural and architectural forms, Stuart’s creative process begins with observation and drawing before evolving through material experimentation and making. His work captures the dynamic qualities of molten glass, balancing organic movement with refined sculptural form.
Sue Pryke is a ceramicist and designer whose practice spans studio making, product design and education. After beginning her career as a designer at Wedgwood, she graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1994 before going on to design some of IKEA’s most enduring kitchen, table and homeware collections.
Alongside extensive consultancy work for leading high street brands including John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, Sue has developed a respected independent studio practice centred around contemporary slipcast tableware. Since returning to making in 2012, her collections have been stocked by galleries and independent retailers across the UK, while collaborations with manufacturers, hotels and restaurants continue to inform her work within the hospitality sector.
A passionate advocate for craft education, Sue led the Ceramics and Glass BA programme at De Montfort University for ten years, helping shape what is now the thriving Design Crafts course. In 2020, she became co-judge on Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down alongside Keith Brymer Jones.
Sue is a Selected Member of the Craft Potters Association and continues to make from her Leicestershire studio.
Founded in 1992 by Harriet Wallace-Jones and Emma Sewell, Wallace Sewell is a pioneering British textile design studio renowned for its innovative use of colour, structure and yarn. Working at the intersection of traditional craftsmanship and industrial production, the studio has spent more than three decades creating contemporary woven textiles distinguished by bold geometric compositions, asymmetric stripes and an unmistakable visual identity.
Designing and manufacturing exclusively within the British Isles, Wallace Sewell combines handloom experimentation in its London and Dorset studios with production at a family-run Lancashire mill. Sustainability, transparency and a commitment to British manufacturing sit at the heart of the studio’s ethos, with the entire production process taking place within a closely connected regional network.
The studio’s diverse portfolio spans fashion, interiors, transport, hospitality and cultural collaborations, with clients and partners including the V&A, Tate, Transport for London and Puma. Alongside bespoke commissions and large-scale projects, Wallace Sewell produces collections of throws, cushions, rugs and scarves stocked internationally in over 25 countries.
Through a continually evolving design language, Wallace Sewell has become internationally recognised for pushing the boundaries of contemporary textile design while championing creativity, craftsmanship and sustainable British production.
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