🏝️ Holiday Notice 🏝️
I'm currently out of office until 14th May.
All orders placed from 15th April onwards will be posted at the end of May. Thank you for your patience and support!

🏝️ Holiday Notice 🏝️
I'm currently out of office until 14th May.
All orders placed from 15th April onwards will be posted at the end of May. Thank you for your patience and support!

Dundee Design Festival 2024, BOOKENDS

- Braiding Sisterhood



Made of 50% recycled plastics and 50% plant-based bioplastics

As one of 20 Scottish designers invited to this exhibition, I created a pair of bookends interpreting 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, a book about two pioneering female journalists, Marie Imandt and Bessie Maxwell, who embarked on an epic world tour in the 1890s 📖🌍

Inspired by Bessie and Marie’s stories, my bookends symbolise sisterhood that transcends both cultural and historical boundaries, rooted in empathy and compassion. The design features the motif of hair braiding, a universal practice that women do to connect with and support each other.

Further information about this project is available below.



- My appoach to this project:

When I first learned about 𝘋𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴, I was ecstatic. As a woman living in 2024, reading about pioneering female journalists from the Victorian era who travelled the world is priceless. At the same time, while reading, I found myself chanting, “Please don’t say anything disappointing. Please, don’t say anything racially charged.” Quite a sad reality.

However, soon after, I realised that I should consider the context and influences of their time. We are all products of our own era. Hence, I wanted to approach their stories with empathy and compassion, a language beyond time and space.

I interpreted Bessie and Marie’s analysis of other places and cultures as coming from both their political context as socialists and from a standpoint of sisterly empathy and concern. This led me to the subject of sisterhood.

With my bookend design, I visualised sisterhood through braids. Hair braiding is ubiquitous across cultures as an activity that women do to connect with and support each other. Braiding sisterhood 👭🤝

-How my bookends were made:

First, I researched and made sketches of different types of braided hairstyles. Among all, a crown braid, wrapping a braid around the head, caught my eye because its look from behind reminded me of the moon. I created this braided shape in 3D modelling software and split it into two pieces of a bookend, each resembling a half-moon, forming a full moon when together.

The middle image is 3D sculpted digitally with a flower on one side and a butterfly on the other due to their prevalent feminine representation across cultures. I believe their symbiotic relationship suits the theme of sisterhood brewed from empathy and compassion, my main inspiration for this project.

When the 3D model was ready, I went through my 3D printing filaments, deciding on the textures and colours of the final piece. Motivated by my eco-feminist ideals and the Dundee Design Festival’s goal for sustainability, I ensured the use of recycled plastics as much as possible.

After generating a 3D printing file, I hit the start button, and magic happened. Of course, there was post-production labour in due course, but let’s not talk about it because it will take away the magic.