MDes Communication Design School of Design

Helen Elizabeth Nichols

(they/she)

My practice explores care, communication, and resistance through textiles and typography. Rooted in a lineage of skilled laborers, caregivers, and quiet advocates, I approach design as both a craft and a political act. I work with tactile materials like tufting, crochet, and fabric to reframe protest as soft, slow, and intimate.

Much of my work queers traditional notions of typography and design. I challenge ideas of legibility, perfection, and commercialization, choosing instead to highlight imperfection, labor, and the handmade. My pieces often center on phrases that hold personal and political weight rendered through processes that invite touch and contemplation.

I am particularly interested in how radical care can live in material form, and my work finds a comfortable space within ambiguity, softness, and presence in activist visual culture.

Contact
hello@helennichols.com
H.Nichols1@student.gsa.ac.uk
Website
Instagram
Works
I Can No Longer Hold Your Body
hi!
Let These Words Hold Your Hands

I Can No Longer Hold Your Body

“When Justice is Gone, There is Always Force”

O’ Superman by Laurie Anderson, 1982

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Can No Longer Hold Your Body emerges from a study of hand-lettering through filet crochet to code messages of care, solidarity, and connection with the working class. It responds to a design industry that continues to devalue artistic labor while encouraging competition over collective support. These works inhabit space as a counter-practice to conventional typographic norms, challenging the corporate drive to streamline, commodify, and dilute creative expression.

Approximately 15,500 squares and 150 hours of work make up the piece, and it measures to approx. 5ft x 5ft.

hi!

hi!  is a playful exploration to the possibilities of printing with crochet. It is a continuation of my inquiry into crochet as an alternative method of typographic learning, viewing tracking and leading through squares, effectively meshing traditional letterpress techniques with digital ones.

Let These Words Hold Your Hands

This handmade banner, created for addiction advocacy, explores the role of craft in protest history. Drawing from the visual language of traditional banners, it combines fabric textures, bold typography, and vivid colours to honour the legacy of protest movements. The piece reflects the grassroots origins of social justice and addiction awareness efforts, reminding viewers of how banners have long been powerful tools for visibility and solidarity. Through its handcrafted elements, this banner connects past and present, emphasizing the ongoing need for community-led advocacy and the enduring strength found in collective action and craft traditions.