An award winning designer of ceramics for daily use.

Studio portrait courtesy of Alun Callender

BIOGRAPHY

Billy Lloyd’s design ethos is underpinned by the hands-do attitude instilled in him during the various stages of his education and career in ceramics. Having first encountered clay at St Edward’s in Oxford aged thirteen, he continued the subject throughout secondary school, making the most of the Ceramics, Design and Art departments available to him. Following a summer jaunt city hopping around Europe, Billy decided to opt out of a year travelling in order to pursue his passion for making and enrolled on an Art Foundation course in Oxfordshire.

Frequent visits to London as a teenager (most of which his parents knew about) left a lasting impression and he decided to move there permanently in 2003 to study BA Ceramics at Camberwell College of Art and Design. While there, he developed a sensitivity to working with different materials and processes alongside an intuitive ability to make precise forms in clay, or occasionally metal, a workshop he could also often be found in.

Upon graduation in 2006, Billy spent a year working as an assistant to Lisa Hammond MBE at Maze Hill Pottery, before completing a successful four-year apprenticeship with esteemed potter and writer Julian Stair. It was during this period that he found a flair for making understated yet modern porcelain tableware on a potter’s wheel. In 2011, he won the Cockpit Arts Award, which subsequently enabled him to set up his first studio at Cockpit Arts Deptford. Championed by visionaries such as Priscilla Carluccio, and Sir Terence and Lady Vicki Conran (who own his Edition Of Fifty Cups), Billy quickly established himself as a leading figure in Britain’s ‘designer-maker’ generation.

As Billy’s career progressed and demand for his wares increased, he realised that in order to achieve his aspirations he needed to rethink the way in which his work was produced. The majority of his time was spent making one collection of tableware, but what he really wanted to do was develop new work for a variety of clients that were looking to add to or diversify their offering. A timely meeting with renowned product designer Robin Levien RDI at the 2013 Homes and Gardens Designer Awards (he was a ‘Young Designer’ nominee) would go on to have a profound influence on Billy. Robin understood his keen appetite for design and encouraged him to commit to a future as an industrial designer as opposed to a potter. This proved to be a very liberating move and he counts himself fortunate to be able to call Robin both a friend and mentor.

The following year, recognised for his positive attitude towards both craftsmanship and industrial design, Billy was awarded a scholarship from the Royal Warrant Holders Association’s charity, The Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST). With this, he spent time working alongside master craftsmen furthering his knowledge of traditional model and mould making techniques in order to shed new light on the creative process inherent in the art of designing ceramics.

Within a relatively short space of time, Billy’s output has been prolific and diverse, collaborating with international retailers, restaurants, designers, architects and luxury brands; creating products ranging from industrially made tableware to bespoke lighting installations, with each project adding a lasting value to his clients’ business.

CLIENTS

Billy has worked with the following companies:

Akzo Nobel • Boden • Brindisa Kitchens • Brooks Brothers • Brown's Hotel, London • Conran and Partners • Coya London • Creative Family • Cult Ceramics • Crafts • Crafts Council • Daylesford • Feathers Fashion • Fennica (Beams Japan) • Few and Far • Heal's • Heritage Crafts Association • Hole & Corner • Lalani and Co. • London Craft Week • Luum • Rapha • Rocket Food • Spring Restaurant • The Conran Shop • The New Craftsmen • The Stafford Hotel, London • SE5 Architects • Verden • Victorinox

He has also exhibited at: Fortnum and Mason, Royal Academy of Arts, Somerset House, London Design Festival and Clerkenwell Design Week and annually visits Ambiente in Frankfurt.

Video courtesy of Kontenthaus.