FACE the FUTURE
Habitat’s collaboration with Quentin Jones is an illustrative tour de force, full of winking eyes, bold lips and strong ideas. We discover more about the influences behind the collection, the colour choices and the joys of designing for peoples’ homes
Illustrator, photographer and all-round creative Quentin Jones has worked with Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Victoria Beckham, but this capsule textile collection for Habitat is her first foray into the world of homeware. Here, we talk to Jones about the vivid, energetic rugs and cushions, all of which are covered in graphic designs that showcase the signature exuberance that has garnered her a cult following around the world.
What’s your style? My artworks are often very layered, with a mix of photography, painting and moving image. I love simple palettes that echo the Bauhaus and Constructivism and am drawn to bold graphic shapes with minimal fuss – thanks largely to my two architect parents, who were both keen minimalists.
How did you find translating your aesthetic into homeware? It was really fun! I always work quickly and instinctively, which is the approach I took for this collection. For Habitat, I turned my eye to typography colliding with hand-painted lines and shapes, as well as elements of the human face.
Tell us more about the collection… It has a slight 1990s feel to it when viewed together, but I also wanted the pieces to work individually as statement designs and, due to the different styles and techniques used, to suit a variety of homes.
Did the varied scale of the collection affect your designs? The rugs gave me the chance to blow up my artworks to a much larger scale. I can’t wait to get the ‘Antrausic’ rug (below, £450) into my living room. For the ‘Eye’ cushions (from £60 each) I worked around the idea that the sofa becomes a character once the cushions are placed on it – a monster surveying the room. These designs will be lived with for years, how does that make you feel? It’s really cool. So much of what I do is watched for 30 seconds and then disappears into the internet, so working on lasting pieces is such a nice change (habitat.co.uk).