Image of Lauren Davies of HEKA, a design studio focused on sustainable adn sensory design

About Me

I am an interdisciplinary designer, strategist and experienced university educator – passionate about sustainable futures and sensory design. My project Funnelfair was designed for Paraphenalia exhibition during New York Design Week 2025.

Throughout my career, I’ve been nominated for Designs of the Year at the Design Museum for The Alchemist’s Dressing Table with features on Dezeen and by Grant Gibson for Frame Magazine. My Leftovers chair, made in collaboration with The American Hardwood Export Council, was exhibited at the V&A. As part of Out of the Woods, it was one of the first projects to evaluate lifecycle assessment. Design journalist Becky Sunshine named me a ‘design star of the future’ in The Observer. I’ve had work featured in Wallpaper* and WIRED and run workshops at Barbican Art Gallery in collaboration with Design Marketo.

My education and design practice spans fashion, photography, illustration, art direction, production, graphic and product design, trend foresight, semiotics and creative strategy. Since completing my Design Products MA at Royal College of Art, I’ve worked both independently and in-house. Through design, branding, colour and material innovation, storytelling, and systems thinking, I’ve explored how design can respond to urgent planetary and social challenges.

I worked in-house at design futures research agency FranklinTill specialising in colour, material and finish for two years. Here, as senior strategist, I led circular and regenerative strategy for spatial design, publications and insight reports and supported client workshops, public-facing talks and events. I have worked in-house at design studio Glithero supporting delivery of acclaimed installations and in-house production of conceptual objects.

In my previous design career I was an art director, set designer and prop maker. I art-directed wraparound covers for Creative Review, music videos for Man Like Me featuring Jessie Ware and UK Redlight featuring Ms Dynamite. I worked on a advertising campaign for Selfridges and was commissioned by Nike for an art installation at Art Basel.

Outside of design, I volunteer as a leader for the Woodcraft Folk, a grassroots organisation focused on environmental and social justice for young people. Each week, I co-run inclusive sessions and organise seasonal camps, continuing a movement I was raised in and which shaped my core values around education, equity and care.

I am always open to new projects and collaborations so please do contact me via email or give me a call to have a chat about working together.