22-year-old designer Annie from Darlington turned her spare bedroom into a studio and set up textile business Mac and Morris during her final year studies. As part of a project called 'What Makes Us Human?', which strongly focussed on her family, Annie combined both her grandparents’ surnames - McIntyre and Morrison – and Mac and Morris was born.
 
Specialising in embroidery and embellishment to design contemporary interior products and gifts from her home studio, Annie is now successfully growing her business, utilising retail and gallery space at No.42.
 
The site, in the centre of Bishop Auckland, was launched by regional charity, Auckland Castle Trust to provide a platform for fledgling creative businesses to display and sell their work. Upstairs it boasts special incubator studios, collectively known as Pod, where emerging, companies can develop their products and be part of a collaborative community. 
 
Managed by CCAD alumnus Kate Gorman, Pod currently has six residents, including Self Made Studios, a social enterprise offering textile sampling and manufacturing, where fellow CCAD graduate Alexandra Batty works in surface pattern design.
 
Annie said: “I started to sell my work through No.42 almost immediately after graduating and it’s been brilliant, helping me get my work noticed by a different customer base. I think the North East really benefits from places like this.
 
“It has been a massive challenge so far, with quiet periods and then large numbers of orders overnight, but I love what I’m doing. Being able to wake up and know you are working on something you love overrules any challenges for me.”
 
Pod Manager Kate Gorman said: “At Pod and No.42 our aim is to provide specific tailored support for artists and designers as they launch their creative business.
 
“Through networking events such as Pod picnics we are also able to share this support with a wider audience and help forge a collaborative creative community where artists can flourish together.”
Annie has produced a number of private commissions based on her existing designs in bespoke colours and sizes for clients. She is developing her online business from art retailer Etsy to customers as far afield as the USA and Australia, as well as attending design markets both regionally and nationally.
 
Her work has also been selected for a somewhat unusual exhibition ‘100 Years of OUI’ at Kimberly Clark, a dispenser gallery in an undisclosed UK public toilet where the artwork is dispensed on low quality paper towels to unexpected users to drive art into people’s everyday lives.
 
First-class honours graduate Sharron Bates, 46 from Newton Aycliffe, has already experienced commercial success after receiving a commission to design wallpaper for an international textile studio in Belgium before she had even finished her degree, and hopes to work with them again in the future.
 
During her studies, Sharron began selling her prints and cards at No.42 which she continues to do, and is also exhibiting selected pieces of her original artwork for purchase as part of the gallery’s exhibition.

CLEVELAND COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN
HE Campus Church Square
Hartlepool
TS24 7EX
+44 (0)1429 858418 / 07577 941331
http://hartlepool.ccad.ac.uk