Freelance ceramics designer, Matthew Harrison, lived for over 20 years in the Fairweather Green and Sandy Lane districts of Bradford and attended Rhodesway School, before completing an Art Foundation Course at Bradford College in 1991.
He continued his studies at Glasgow School of Art, where he graduated in 1994 with First Class Honours degree in Design (Ceramics). Whilst at Glasgow, Matthew spent time with the Copenhagen School of Design, which gave him a wider insight into European and Scandinavian design.
From Glasgow, he continued on a postgraduate Masters degree in Industrial Ceramics at Staffordshire University. During this time he gained commercial experience on a student placement, with Kalha in Germany and by working for Queensbury Hunt Design Consultancy in London.
Following his Masters graduation from Staffordshire University in 1996, he worked initially on a freelance contract with Wedgwood ceramics, specialising in shape design. This led to a full time position with Wedgewood and in the early stage of his career with the company, he worked extensively with the Far East markets, leading to a Senior Designer role with special responsibility for Japan. He progressed from this into a wider design management role, where he eventually became Head of Wedgwood and Johnson Brothers’ design teams in 2007.
In 2008 he was one of the ‘175 Heroes’ of Bradford College exhibition, where a selection of his Wedgewood designs were shown (see image below).
In recent years, Matthew has worked as a freelance ceramics designer, with a client portfolio including Jaspar Conran and Partnership, and Narumi of Japan.
He currently lives in the north-west of Scotland, but still retains close family links with the Bradford district.