The Poundshop at ICA

 On Thursday evening I managed to extract myself from my studio full of packing boxes (can I just take a moment to say how much I absolutely HATE packing?!) to visit The Poundshop at the ICA with my bestie. I first heard about The Poundshop initiative a few years back, but have never made it to one of their events in person before. But after seeing so many of my designer maker friends posting about it on Instagram I knew I had to visit! And it didn't disappoint - so many awesome things to browse and buy. I even got interviewed by the BBC whilst I was there (cue me awkwardly rambling about loving a bargain!)

(all photos by Lorella Bianco)

The concept behind The Poundshop is making handmade, design-led products available to a wider audience, by offering pieces at affordable price points (namely £1, £3, £5, £10 and £15 - everything in the shop fits into one of these price brackets.) There were SO many insanely cool bits to choose from - I bought a few things to give as gifts, a couple of bits to use in giveaways next year, plus some items for my new studio. My favourite bits were the pineapple and bear brooches by Custom Made, the screenprinted wooden clipboards by Ding Ding Makes Things, the safari animal candle holders by Purple Spoon, the origami notecards by Lollipop Designs, the gold and silver foil notebooks by Sparrow and Wolf, and the greeting cards by Scout Editions.

Each year The Poundshop runs several pop up events like this, and open it up to submissions for items from designer maker types. I will definitely be submitting something next year as I loved the event and the whole concept behind it!