Interview with Hayden Youlley

I’ve been a Hayden Youlley fan since I spied his work at a market many moons ago. I was thrilled when he said he was keen to do an interview and tell us a little about himself and his work. Hayden’s passion for his craft really shines through in his answers, not that it’s a surprise, you can’t produce pieces as well as he does without loving what you do! I hope you all enjoy reading this article as much as I did!  – Dom

Tell us a little about yourself, Who is Hayden?
Hayden is a surf loving, art appreciating, fun loving guy behind all that goes on in Hayden Youlley Designs. I’ve always been passionate about design and craftsmanship, but didn’t find a creative outlet that allowed me to express myself fully until I chose ceramics as a major at while studying at COFA. From there I worked in various roles within the industry while designing and creating works in my own time, until I took a leap of faith and decided to make designing and making ceramics my full time job.

What’s your workspace like?
I’ve just moved into a brand new workspace! It’s a lot bigger than the studio I worked in previously. It’s got plenty of room for more kilns and bench space, so it’s a real opportunity for me to expand the business. I’m really excited to start this next Hayden Youlley Designs chapter. The larger space has allowed me to bring in some new designers to share the space with and hopefully collaborate. With more space it also affords me the luxury of spreading out and the room to experiment with new ideas and designs.

My favourite of your products are pieces from your paper series. What inspired you to try this design?
I take inspiration from the world around me, as well as from other ceramicists, artists and designers. I tend to be interested and inspired by atypically beautiful things, such as discarded, crumpled scrap paper, a broken glass window, a shattered mirror or cracks in cement. I’m fascinated by the transformation of something mundane into something remarkable. All the pieces that form the Hayden Youlley Design collection are connected by the concept of finding beauty in the unexpected.

The Paper Series is about fusing binary traits of hard/soft, fragile/strong, light/heavy to create an intriguing, whimsical, tactile experience in a functional everyday piece of tableware. The random natural distribution of creases in the paper surface of the objects creates complex patterns of light, shade and texture that disturb the smooth surrounds and invite study and touch.

Do you remember what drew you to ceramics? 
Things really clicked for me as a designer when I found ceramics during my second year at COFA. I felt like I’d found a medium that gave me the freedom to create in the moment and the ability to explore whole ideas from start to finish. The endless possibilities malleable clay offered to explore my ideas about of surface, scale and volume really sparked my interest. Once I started working with clay, I realised that it appealed not only to my fascination with materials and process but also to my sense of independence as a designer. It’s the only medium I have worked with that I can use to make a product by doing each step in the process myself – from designing and prototyping to realising and manufacturing. That’s the fanciest way I have found to say that it is a really fun and rewarding way to get your hands dirty and throw mud around all day.

Do you have a favourite piece to make?
I’m having lots of fun making the IM light at the moment. I’ve just finished a new cylindrical prototype pendant light shade in this series and I am very happy with the way it turned out. The process for making these lights involves destroying a complete clay cylinder and reassembling the pieces back together to form what looks like cracked and broken object. The process requires me to piece back together randomly occurring cracks in such a way as to express movement with the negative space left in between the cracks. This piece gives me the opportunity to be creative every time I am putting it back together, and it means no two IM lights are the same. Each piece cracks, and is put back together, in its own unique way.

Your logo is seriously cute, I feel like there is a story behind that plane… what inspired your logo?
When I was setting up my business, I needed a logo and I was really struggling to come up with something that represented my work and or had a personal connection to my story. Then I came across a drawing of a little aeroplane I had done when I was about four years old. I was obsessed with being a pilot as a kid and would draw little planes on everything. I drew this particular plane for my mum in blue pencil, and luckily for me, Mum not only kept it but also had it framed so it was pretty well preserved. I decided to use that as my logo – as it turns out, my graphic design skills peaked when I was four! The plane logo is a very rough line drawing and people often confuse it for all sorts of things – a flying fish, a shark, a corn on the cob. I actually really enjoy the confusion the logo creates as it encourages people to ask about it and gives me the opportunity to tell them the story of the plane and then engage them with the story of my work, my business and my personal journey. I still hope to get my pilots licence someday, but I’m happy focussing on my business for the time being!

What do you do when you get stuck in a creative rut? Any miracle cures?
No miracle cures as of yet! It can be difficult to be find the time to be creative especially when you are a small scale designer/maker. You spend a lot of time focused on establishing and running the business side of the operation and making existing work that it can be hard to set aside the time you need to devote to new ideas. But I’m hoping this is all going to change in 2016 with my new creative studio- having the extra space means I’ll be able take on a second Hayden Youlley design team member for the first time, which is really exciting. I’m hopeful this will lighten my day-to-day load, and free up some extra time that I can devote to exploring new ideas and designing new work. I also find that collaboration and being in and around other creatives as much as possible always helps stimulate the creative juices and jump start you out of a rut into an idea.

Are there any trends you’re loving right now? 
I’m not sure if this is particularly on trend but I am loving matching ties with pocket squares. I don’t get many chances to dress up in my clay-covered line of work but when I do, I like to step out in style!

Any fellow Aussie makers you admire? 
Elliot Holdstock is a crazy good furniture maker. I will hopefully be collaborating with him this year as well. you can see his work at www.elliotholdstock.com and on instagram at @elliot_holdstock

Marcelo Neckwear is run by Vicki Runnegar and my all time favourite Aussie fashion brand. They make the best ties, bowties and pocket squares. you can see their work at  www.marcelloneckwear.com or on instagram at @marcelloneckwear

A Silver Circle is run by Corinne Snare, a super talented jewellery maker and silversmith. She makes elegant, subtle hand crafted pieces. Her work can be seen at www.asilvercircle.com.au or on instagram at @asilvercircle

I could probably go one for ever. There is such an awesome community of great Aussie makers out there that everyone should know about.

Last of all, if you could travel anywhere in the world for a month, where would you go?
I’m talking all expenses paid. Money is no object!
I think in a perfect world I’d be spending two weeks surfing, relaxing, getting massages and drinking cocktails on beautiful white sandy beaches in Tahiti and another two weeks taking in the culture, design, arts, theatre, eating out and night life in New York City.
I think you nailed that one Hayden. That sounds perfect! 

Check out Hayden on Instagram! @haydenyoulley

Thanks so much for your fabulous answers Hayden!