TOTSEAT TURNS TO STUDENTS FOR NEXT SEASON’S DESIGNS

Lucy Clark and Ashley Paton, students of the Design for Textiles degree at Heriot-Watt University, will soon see their designs in production as winners of the Totseat design competition. Both designs are being added to the washable, squashable highchair’s funky fabric collection, and should be on sale by the end of the year.

The competition was set up by Rachel Jones, inventor and Director of Totseat, the recent overall winner of the Scottish Design Awards and Mark Parker, Course Director at Heriot-Watt University. Working to a tight brief which requested the creation of a simple but sophisticated design to appeal to parents, rather than babies, the class of 14 students produced a stunning range of designs. After a difficult judging process the two winners, Lucy Clark and Ashley Paton, each scooped the top prize of £250.

Commenting on the competition, Mark Parker, Course Director at Heriot-Watt University said:
"The students really rose to the challenge of taking a contemporary approach to printed textile design. The briefing from the company was clear and inspiring, forcing the students to develop and present their ideas in a professional manner with particular consideration of colour and pattern development. The ultimate excitement for the students will be to see their ideas manufactured commercially and made into such a well designed product."
 
Rachel Jones, Director of Totseat said:
"As a Scottish business, we are keen to use local design talent and sourced our first two fabrics from established designers in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Heriot-Watt’s School of Textiles and Design has an outstanding reputation in the industry and it was the obvious place to find our new fabrics and the designers of the future. We are truly delighted with the designs created by Lucy and Ashley and look forward to putting them into production."

ENDS
26th July 2005
CONTACT
Beverley Kirk, Great Circle Communications Ltd
Tel: 0131 225 4646, or e-mail: beverley.kirk@greatcircle.co.uk

Nicola Broadfoot, Totseat Ltd
Tel: 0131 226 6064, email: nicola@totseat.com

Images available

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Heriot-Watt University www.hwu.ac.uk
Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University is a leading provider in science, engineering and business education with courses designed for business, industry and the professions. The University has wide experience of international degree programmes and supported e-learning, with currently more than 10,000 students studying in 130 countries worldwide. Overseas programmes include the distance learning MBA, one of the largest and most popular in the world. The School of Textiles and Design is at the Scottish Borders campus in Galashiels.

About Totseat www.totseat.com
Motto: Necessity is the mother of invention.
Mother: Rachel Jones. Father: Michael Groves. Child: Freya.
Objective: Get out more, with as little luggage as possible. Result: Totseat.
Totseat is made from ethically sourced materials.
Totseat is for occasional use. It is not intended as a permanent highchair.
Totseat has been designed to comply with EN71:part 3.
Winner Scottish Design Awards, Grand Prix 2005.
Winner Scottish Design Awards, Product Design, 2005.
Runner-up, Baby Products Association Awards, Product Design 2004.