trio

Trio is a set of unique and handmade concrete candle holders. They are inspired by the brutalist architectural movement that was characterised by the use of concrete and massive, uncompromising shapes.

Retail Therapy was a project ran by the GSA in my 4th year. We were tasked with designing and manufacturing a batch of 10 products to be sold to the public in early December. They were to be sold in was the CCA shop, Welcome Home, on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow. For a successful project, the product would be suitably at home in this environment, matching the quality and target market of the shop’s stock.

The project entailed the exploration of form, refinement of the material quality through the development of the manufacturing process, and the branding and packaging of the final product.

I experimented with concrete pigments until I reached a variety of colour combinations that matched the brutalist aesthetic I was wanting to achieve, but also that come together to form a beautiful, considered product. Concrete is a challenging material to work with, but when dealt with correctly it is a wonderful natural material. This quote from Kast Concrete Basins, who are leaders in the field of casting concrete, characterises the material.

“A material that combines the organic characteristics of natural stone with the ability to be cast into any shape.“

Kast Concrete Basins

The organic variations in colour and texture of the material, create the aesthetic of their products that reflect the nature of the material. Throughout the development, I kept in mind that part of the magic of concrete comes hand in hand with the idiosyncrasies and imperfections that are natural within it.

I wanted to create branding that unified the three shapes and colours of the product. This would help customers to identify the product as a set of three. Complete packaging such as a container or box was not necessary given the layout and system used in the CCA shop, so I decided to use a simple wrap around the cylinder candle holder, allowing the branding to be accessible without distracting attention from the product.