Working With Southsea Deckchairs

(Credit: Southsea Deckchairs)

Stephen Davies, formed the company in 1991, 10 years after working as deckchair attendant on Southsea beach during the summers. The first deckchair he produced took 3 weeks to make (as Davies had no previous wood-work experience). Since the company formed, the popularity has rocketed and they have become the leading UK retailer of deckchairs and even ship worldwide.

Southsea Deckchairs have produced deckchairs for corporate events for companies such as Walls ice cream, ITV and Pimms (to name a few!)

(Credit: Southsea Deckchairs)

Southsea Deckchairs approached my University course to create a series of designs based on ‘Coastal Patterns’. The idea was to come up with a theme that wasn’t too stereotypical. I decided to use Japanese art to inspire my design series – such as famous artist Katsushika Hokusai

(Credit: Katsushika Hokusai)

I decided to draw a series of fish, stripes, waves and bamboo in order to create my full length design and design swatches. I used black markers to mimic the graphic style of Japanese artwork.

Next came the fun bit! Creating my designs in Photoshop:

The softness of the hand painted stripes is contrasted to the harshness of the graphic lines of the fish motif.

The second design features horizontal stripes with a simplified graphic wave based upon Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave’.

The third swatch in the collection involves vertical stripes made out of bamboo canes and blue watercolour paint.

The fourth design uses the same motifs as the third, but arranged in a check design instead.The fifth design features a complex marbled ink design underneath watercolour Japanese goldfish motifs.The sixth swatch is an all over repeat featuring all the fish motives interspersed with watercolour circles which bring in the blue tones from the colour palette.  This is the full length design in the collection which involves vertical stripes (which are the best selling patterns on deckchairs) with the waves flowing vertically upwards. The fish are then arranged in various sizes on top, to create an eye catching composition.

I, along with my classmates, was lucky enough to pitch my designs to Stephen Davies. My full length design won the pitch and is now in the process of production! Watch this space for more information!

Click here to check out the full range of Southsea Deckchairs products.

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Speak soon!

Eve x