Opening Night ... Party!

Well ... the work paid off. On Dec 17th we managed to rustle up enough of our nearest and dearest to come and support us on our opening night. The evening was held in conjunction with Space Makers and our new market stall neighbors.

Harriet's Ts and tea towels were a top seller, Robin and Steven garnered interest in their lighting designs (one woman wanted to order over a hundred of their standing light shades ... alas, she didn't have the coin), Jackie and Suzie exhibited their photos and everybody loved Polly's dress designs and Aimee's Christmas jumpers.

But without a doubt the most popular item of the evening was the White Rum Punch, kindly donated and served by our friends at The Dogstar. And what a punch this rum did have, it ensured that Herd was the place to be on the night, with market goers milling about our space in droves. Jackie's H motif-ed Guiness mince pies were another draw card, as was music by Beat Magnetic and The Elevens. Oh, and how could we forget Jackie's alter ego, the crazy lady herself, Penelope ... more of whom features in the video below.

Opening Night ... Set Up

There was loads of work to do before the big night ... here we are in action.

Hay Bales and Epic Journeys

James and Kate are collecting hay bales and journeying from Brighton to Brixton today. Why? All will be revealed at Thursday nights opening...

Making Stuff

Over the weekend Robin and Stephen got working on our new desks - super exciting!

Opening Night

Next thing you know, we're having an opening night party, with music and mulled wine!

Moving In

This is what the space looked like on day dot.
We put some of our work up to make it look a bit pretty ...

And Then ...

James was inundated with applications from keen young creatives. But in the end, only 8 were chosen.

So Herd consists of 9 of London's finest emerging talent spanning fashion, photography, printmaking, architecture, graphic design and more.

So who are these young guns?

We introduce to you ...

Polly Wilkinson: fashion and textile designer + lover of all things British
Kate Bronte-Stewart: vintage collector + qualified massage therapist (yay for us!)
Jackie King: award winning photographer + Guinness mince pie chef supremo
Harriet Baford: screen printer and fabric designer / maker and illustrator + naturist (no, not like that!)
Suzie Blake: photographer, maker + blogger (a closet geek)
Stephen and Robin of Show & Tell Design: creators of all things both useful and beautiful
Aimee Valentine Marshall: graphic designer across print and digital + soon to be creator of Brixton inspired fashions
James Owen Webster: architect and designer + general motivator and inspirer (basically, he made this thing happen)

You'll have the chance to read about what each of the creatives is up to over the coming weeks. We're going to pluck their brains and find out what fabulous things they're up to, who and what inspires them, and why they love being part of Herd.

Stay tuned!

Herd People

James was inundated with responses. Hey, which poor struggling artist wouldn't jump at the chance of 3 months of rent free space?

But there was only room for nine. And James picked the following budding creatives ...

Design duo Robin and Stephen of Show & Tell Design
Fashion designer and stylist Polly Wilkinson
Printmaker and fashion designer Harriet
Fashion Designer and vintage afficiando Kate Bronte Smith
Designer and jack of all trades Aimee Marsh
Two photographers Jackie King and Suzie Blake
and of course, the dude who had the idea in the first place, architect and designer James Owen Webster.

And that's the Herd bunch, in a nutshell.

We'll be following up on this with interviews with each of the Herd team. So watch this space!

How It All Began

Herd began to grow when James planted this little seed.