William Warren

London based product and furniture designer
Drawing Board

Glug Jug

Glug Jug

The jug produces a distinctive glugging sound when water is poured from it. It is London by its language and character. Its charm is experiential.

The ‘Glug Jug’ is a traditional artefact, most commonly a ceramic fish and often seen advertising London gin. It gurgles because the hollow handle noisily fills with air as the jug is tilted and poured. A phenomena that can be felt as well as heard.

The design of the jug has been developed with three criteria: to…

More »

Text Tiles

Text Tiles

A series of ten ceramic tiles with applied decoration that can be used to create text and signage by their various combinations. The aim was to to keep the number of different decorated tiles to a minimum so that manufacturing might become cheaper and stock in retail outlets easier to manage.

The tiles were developed in 2008.

More »

Siren Seat

Siren Seat

A repaired Thonet chair with a new uphostered leather cushion. The base of the cushion has a small hole into which a siren whistle is fitted. When the seat is sat upon, the air help within the foam escapes through the whistle, creating a comic sound. It’s fun. Honest.

These seats were developed as a response to a brief generated through the group WC Franck.

photography by Ivan Coleman

More »

Tessellating patterns

Tessellating patterns

Here are some patterns I’ve drawn up. I don’t know what to do with them. The gun pattern has been used as a floor tile in both rubber and parquet.

More »

Serendipity Clock

Serendipity Clock

The house that I grew up in had a fantastic grandfather clock that chimed the hour. A sound full of charm that marked time through the day.  This collection of old alarm clocks have been wired together and their led readouts messed around with. The fancy electrics is a ‘chocolate box daisy chain’. The clock reads a fairy-tale message twice a day, which will only be witnessed occasionally. Stripping the clocks of their original function makes the one moment in the day…

More »

Tilly’s Wall Diary

Tilly’s Wall Diary

An important aspect of the home is that it doesn’t exist only in the present. A sense of home comes from how long we have been at a place and how long we plan to stay.

This is a child’s cupboard with a twelve-year lifespan, which aims to become a sentimental belonging. The child creates a visual diary over the course of their growing up, which will continue to be seen and enjoyed when the locker has grown beyond it. Every…

More »

Terror Firma Parquet

Terror Firma Parquet

This parquet came about as an application for the tessellating pattern I had come up with. I couldn’t think of what else to do with it. It was originally made as an floor for a trade show stand and has been installed in a few houses since.

I would have loved to see this design used in a James Bond villan’s luxury hide away. The pattern does celebrate the automatic pistol which is not my style. Guns are bad. Yeah?

More »

Musical Hinge

Musical Hinge

The musical hinge is a work in progress. It is part of my current interest in designed objects that concern themselves with sound rather than their appearance. This prototype is fitted to my kitchen door.

I’m interested in now finding where this concept might turn into a product. I don’t believe it can be sold as a hinge as it would require people re-hanging their doors, probably including re bedding the hinges. I would like to fit them into a hotel…

More »