Profile: Francesca Reynolds – Only Natural Design Competitions

Francesca Reynolds

Central Saint Martins

Francesca is a multidisciplinary designer using found and local materials as central to concept, form, and scale. Based in London, Francesca graduated from Central Saint Martins BA Textile Design course with a specialism in Print. Artist Statement: I like to be efficient, above all. My practice is always efficient. I don’t believe in wasted time. If I am working, I am really working. However, if I am having lunch, I am quite frankly having lunch. Because I am a woman, I can also multitask (sometimes). The efficiency I embody takes shape in a few ways. Firstly, the material choice. If I can find it on the floor, in a scrap bin, in a pile of rubbish on the street, then that suits me. There are more than enough materials around and so many leftovers. Resourcefulness is testament to my multidisciplinary nature. Instead of hindering the ways I create, it inspires me. No white paper around? The project suddenly becomes cardboard. This is playful and refreshing. Sometimes even unexpected. Secondly, the creative process. Boiling down is important in my work. A constant spring clean is in progress, attempting to understand the relevant and irrelevant creations and streamline these iterations into considered outcomes. I create a lot and take time to reflect critically. Although it may not seem so, this is playful. I puzzle, rearrange, and enquire. Mechanical pattern making and abstracting linear data are process stages I often utilise. Efficiency does not extend to perfect. I often fail and I often make mistakes. This makes my work better. Above all, I love creating. I am a maker.

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A Series of Totemic Objects

Category: Furniture

Competitions: Home Competition 2026

Beginning in the Berkshire woodland, Francesca collects windfallen logs. The shapes and forms of the forest are also extracted through paperwork and organisations of found objects, influencing the form that the wood takes. Her process-rich practice explores the potential of wood using surface patterning, natural dye, and woodworking. Inks are made from walnut and seaweed and applies in layers, paints are made from chalk and cornflour, wood is dyed using wood through barks, oak galls, and wood chip. Combining these methods with the found form gives body to the totemic objects. The process considers the waste generated as the totems are made; new totems arise from the sawdust of previous totems. I The project is called ‘A Series of Totemic Objects’, product of which is eight totems, a table, and an artist book, creating a body of work situated as interior conceptual product, with applications to furniture and set design.