Sue Timney

Sue Timney was born in Benghazi, Libya. Her father Major Alexander Lockhart Carruthers was born in India, and her mother Jetta Hutton in Scotland.[4] The family moved to Great Britain in 1965 after Timney had attended 12 schools abroad. She studied Fine Art at Newcastle University,[5] gaining a First Class Honours degree. In 1977, Timney was awarded a distinction in her Post-Graduate degree at Edinburgh University, and in 1979 she received an M.A. from the Royal College of Art London and won The RCA Travelling Scholarship to Japan.

In 1980, Sue Timney and Grahame Fowler co-founded Timney Fowler, the fabric and design company best known for its black and white graphic imagery.[6] Timney took over Timney Fowler and established the Sue_TIMNEY Design Practice in 2002. She was made a Visiting Professor in 2000 and Honorary Fellow in 2007 at the Royal College of Art.[7]

The Sue_TIMNEY design practice set up alongside Timney Fowler offers a multi-disciplinary approach encompassing interior and product design together with branding and licensing consultancy. Over the last eighteen years, this diverse skill base has allowed the Practice to work with a wide range of clients on specialist Interior Design projects such as boutique hotels in London, the Grand Designs programme and individual clients such as Sam Mendes. Her wide range of clients for branding and product development projects - often in the charity sector - include World Wildlife Fund, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew - Millennium Seed Bank, Sir John Soane's Museum, West Dean The Edward James Foundation, The Churches Conservation Trust and The World Animal Protection.

2009 saw the beginning of her appointment as Trustee of The Laura Ashley Foundation and collaboration with The Rug Company[8]. In 2010 she was appointed Education Director of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) and a retrospective of Timney's work was shown at The Fashion and Textile Museum in London. Her design biography 'Making Marks' was also published by Pointed Leaf Press in New York at that time. The House of Fraser launched the Timney brand for Home and Fashion in 2011 and the same year her work was exhibited in the 'Postmodernism: Style & Subversion 1970–1990' exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Timney was commissioned by the V&A and Random House in 2012 to design a British Vintage Classics book to celebrate British design.[8] Her interior work was also featured in the Victoria & Albert Museum's exhibition 'British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age' and '175 years at the RSA' held at the Royal College of Art.

Timney was elected President of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID) from 2012 to 2014[9] and is an interior design consultant for Television. In 2013, Timney designed the Kaffe Fassett retrospective at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London. She also exhibited her designs in the 'Club to Catwalk' exhibition at the V&A Museum, in 2013. The Sue_TIMNEY for West Dean collection of products developed for the Edward James Foundation was launched and exhibited in 2014 at the V&A Museum London. Timney developed branding, a range of housewares and products for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).[10] in 2016 supporting her lifelong interest in environmental concern and protection.

The SUE_TIMNEY for M&S Collection in 2006 was also launched with a range of table and kitchenware products in her own inimitable and uncompromising style.

In 2018 Timney worked with the Sir John Soane's Museum to help promote their various brand licenses as a collaboration between the museum and their partners. This work raises brand awareness and funding for the Museum. In 2019 the Timney practice developed branding for the Hogarth Exhibition at the Soane Museum for the record-breaking exhibition of Hogarth’s work including the Rake’s Progress.

The World Animal Protection (WAP) invited Sue to develop a new branding ID for their intended product range in 2019 in the UK. Timney Fowler also launched an initiative in 2019, with a major new collection of fabrics, wallpapers, panels, and scarves worldwide designed by Timney.

Clients include Sir John Soane's Museum,[11] World Wildlife Fund (WWF),[12] World Animal Protection (WAP),[13] Sam Mendes, Paul McCartney, Ralph Lauren, Issey Miyake, BBC and Channel 4.[14] Marks and Spencer[15] Royal Botanic Gardens Kew The Edward James Foundation - West Dean College

Sue Timney has four children Alix, Louis, Max and Todd who are all involved in the business of art and design and were all educated in British Art Schools.

• 2009 Appointed Trustee of the Laura Ashley Foundation[16]
• 2010 Appointed Education Director of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID)
• 2010 Design biography Sue Timney Making Marks published by Pointed Leaf Press[5] in New York
• 2010 Retrospective Exhibition at Fashion and Textile Museum, London[17] representing 30 years work from 1980–2010.
• 2011 House of Fraser Launch TIMNEY Brand of products in Fashion and Home
• 2011 Victoria & Albert Museum Exhibition – Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970–1990.
• 2011 Victoria & Albert Museum Exhibition – British Design 1948–2012: Innovation in the Modern Age.
• 2012 Elected President of the British Institute of Interior Design. (BIID)
• 2013 Victoria and Albert Museum Exhibition Club to Catwalk[18]
• 2013 Re-elected president of BIID[19]
• 2017 Re-elected Director of BIID
• 2018 Chelsea Arts Club - Elected to Council.

• 1979 Royal College of Art Major Travelling Scholarship – Japan
• 1988 Resources Council USA – Roscoe Award for Product Design Timney-Fowler
• 1989 Resources Council USA – Roscoe award for Product Design Timney-Fowler
• 1991 Prince Philip Designer of the Year – RCA Nomination
• 1991 The Textile Institute – Medal for Design
• 2007 Royal College of Art - Honorary Fellow

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• Making Marks Sue Timney and the Design of Timney-Fowler {}
• RCA 175 Years of the RCA