Chloe Grieve

Chloe Grieve is a Scottish-American designer from Phoenix, Arizona. After her sudden move to Glasgow at age thirteen and struggles with mental health throughout her young adulthood, she was inspired to express her experiences and past using art. Currently, Chloe works with colour, shape, and pattern to transform sterile spaces into solace. This motivation came from her past experiences occupying dull and clinical therapy session rooms. 

Completing her BA in textiles at Edinburgh College of Art, Chloe received numerous awards for her final year collection. A stand-out achievement was the Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year award she received at New Designers. She is a freelancer currently working with Hallmark. In the past, she was commissioned to do work for The Skinny Magazine after being featured in one of their summer issues. At the Royal College of Art, she received a grant from The Textiles Society to aid her postgraduate studies, and Turnberry Rug Works supported her.

With a love of colour, shape, and illustration, Chloe describes herself as a graphic designer within textiles. She is committed to creating playful, fun designs that show her passion for art.

Awards

• The Textiles Society Postgraduate Bursary Winner (2023)
• Global Design Graduate Degree Show Shortlist (2022)
• New Designer's Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year (2022)
• Grand Prize Co Winner of the Colour Prize from the Dyers Company (2022)
• Joint Second Colour Prize from the Dyers Company (2022)
• i-Dott Shortlist for the Animal Astratti Wallpaper (2021)
• Interior Collection Commendation by John Lewis (2021)
• McVarish Award for Outstanding Achievement in Art (2017)

How can colour, shape, and pattern be used in interiors to help us thrive?

Chloe Grieve, after inhabiting sterile psychiatric healthcare spaces, became inspired to use her art to transform them into optimistic rooms. She noticed these spaces did not reflect the user's needs and often felt depressing and drab. This desire to redesign interiors currently takes shape as furniture, wallpapers, and carpets that add joy to any space. Titled Shape Play, this project began in her final year of BA, and the exploration has continued into her Master's. 

The colours and shapes used throughout Chloe's work have been purposely chosen. In her BA, Chloe developed a book called A Shape a Day, printed in a limited edition of six as a sold-out collection. This year, she further developed the book to account for her new life starting in London. This book contains a daily shape that she drew to match the mood. 

Similarly, The Color of Emotion connects each colour to a feeling before being organised by hue and hex code. These colours are sourced from photographs, walks, and internet boards before carefully selecting up to five pixels using the eyedropper tool on photos that perfectly encapsulate the image. Chloe uses these libraries as her source to create patterns that illuminate her designs.

Through workshops, Chloe has involved the community in designing these public spaces. Vulnerability in healthcare spaces is an unavoidable occurrence. Therefore, to make people feel more comfortable, we can give them a say in the design process. 

Chloe developed a series of sticker sheets to encourage others to create using her previously designed shapes. Stickers are non-intimidating and require no experience. They are the perfect way to encourage people to create! Participants are encouraged to generate shape compositions just as Chloe explores in her work to relax.

Inspired by the Bauhaus movement's transformative effects on healthcare spaces, Chloe continues to develop and play with colours and shapes in various mediums. Inspired by Alexander Calder and Sian Tucker, Chloe is creating her version of a shape mobile. She is currently developing a second rug in collaboration with Turnberry Rug Works. A table and chair drawn from her graphic 2D prints will be on show throughout RCA's MA1 show, hoping to inspire a playful and positive mood.