Bethan Laura Wood
Like a true Brit, Bethan Laura Wood enjoys a good cup of tea. Like a true product designer, she's obviously spent a lot of time thinking about vessels for drinking tea and rituals surrounding the tradition. The results are a beautiful series of tea cups that caught my eye at last month's 100% East exhibition in London.
Delicate white porcelain cups create predetermined patterns out of stains made by the tea, becoming stronger the more you use the cup. (Pictured left.) Laura says that "this project examines the assumption that use is damaging to a product."
The "Time for Tea" set consists of a saucer in the shape of the shadow cast by the cup at different times of day. (Pictured right.) In an effort to reintroduce the traditional use of the saucer with the tea cup, Laura has created three different sizes of shadow saucer for the different types of food—from biscuit to sandwich—often eaten with tea.
