Clay Etc., an upcoming digital publication by Summer Chen and Ty Billman, aims to provide a space for our global community of designers, makers and craftspeople to share the unique passions for, and experiences with, clay as a medium. As part of the publication’s launch, co-author Summer Chen will be in conversation with fellow designers Kevin Rouff of ThusThat and Lonny van Ryswyck of Atelier NL to present and discuss the points of intersection they have experienced with the ceramic medium and design. Access to the publication will be made available to all registrants.

Panelist Bios:

Summer Chen is a designer, artist, maker and researcher based in London and Boston. She graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2014 with a Bachelor degree in Marketing and Technology Management and soon worked as a solution analyst in the healthcare industry. In 2016, Summer left her corporate job to pursue her passion for ceramics and worked as a teaching and studio assistant at the Ceramics Program at Office for Art at Harvard University. Summer is currently a Master student at Royal College of Art and Imperial College in London.

Kevin Rouff is co-director along with Paco Boeckelmann of ThusThat, a design studio with an experimental approach to materials. The studio's practice moves between scientific inquiry, critical research, and experimental making methods. Their work utilizing mining wastes like red mud, a waste of the alumina industry, has gained them widespread attention and has been exhibited across the globe. The studio is based in Amsterdam.

Lonny van Ryswyck is co-owner of design studio Atelier NL, together with creative partner Nadine Sterk. Atelier NL believes that design has the ability to connect local communities to the valuable resources that surround them. Their work explores the potential of local sourcing and production by focusing on the subtleties of the earth right under our feet. Lonny teaches at the Design Academy Eindhoven and gives lectures & workshops world-wide to share Atelier NL’s unique design philosophy that concentrates on raw materials, responsible production practices, and good craftsmanship.

Atelier NL holds the notion of community engagement and public participation at their core by embracing local resources and focusing on the important connection between people and their environment. They invite you to ‘think global and dig local’ in order to implement new design strategies into your work and day-to-day lives.