She is a British designer who gained a first class degree in 3-Dimensional Design before starting her own business, Jedwab Design. In 1995, her first design being immediately accepted as a limited edition Milk Glass for Ritzenhoff in Germany. This was a fantastic start to her career and since then, Debora has gone from strength to strength, designing a large number of items for Ritzenhoff and many other famous companies. Before that, she worked as a designer with the BBC, as a model-maker for Madame Tussaud’s Design Group and as a freelance designer on magazines.
Clients include Rosenthal, Villeroy and Boch, Acme Studio, Dunoon, Koziol, The Box and, of course, Nextime!
Debora's skills are fairly unique in that she is very diverse in her abilities and is not afraid to push the boundaries and try new ideas. She designs equally well in 3D as in 2D surface pattern, and often surprises her clients with the freshness of her approach and ideas. Debora pays great attention to detail and will work for hours to get things just right.
In addition to her many design activities, Debora has been lecturing since 1999 in all aspects of Product Design at Middlesex University, London’s largest university. She was made a Senior Associate Lecturer and received tenure in 2003 in recognition of her work with industry as a practicing designer outside the University. She's working diversely across the Art and Design faculty with Fashion Product Styling Accessories as well as within her own department of Product Design. Many of the projects are live projects with actual clients, so the industry link is maintained and the students appreciate the opportunities this brings whilst they are still studying.
Debora's style is always dynamic and the curvature and tension of the lines have to be precise. The final look is part of the love affair with retro with a modern twist and also patterns that draw on historical cultures updated for today’s market. Her range includes everything from cartoons to intricate patterns and giftware ranges of white ceramics. Vive la difference!
Her work with Nextime started in 2001 with the Stripey range in domed glass, which came in 5 colourways and 2 shapes and sold very well for 6 years. In 2005, Nextime introduced the Neo mirror and opal range, partly extending the Stripey range to mirror and opal in addition to other patterns.
In 2007 Nextime introduced the Fickle collection. For this collection, the inspiration came from taking details from Baroque architecture. I then converted close ups of a tiny detail to a dynamic pattern that is ghosted behind the main pattern. Although it looks abstract, it is obviously a stylish and modern take on the Baroque period, and its origin is no longer so important. According to Debora this kind of lateral thinking during the design process is the most interesting part of being a designer. She loves the way designers work in Italy, conceptual thinking being the most important thing - how would we have got Memphis without such a rigorous approach?
Loves: precision, dynamism, originality, diversity, retro, humor, challenges, fresh approaches, concepts, clients who thrive on discussion and joint decisions and are not afraid to push the boundaries.
Hates: designs that all look the same, graphics placed on 3D items that don’t work all the way the round, artwork that doesn’t look alive, clients that don’t communicate or consult and just present a fait accompli.
