A couple of days ago I caught up with surface designer extraordinaire Ella Doran, to find out what she’s up to during the London Design Festival.

Quite a lot it turns out. And what’s more, it’s all for a good cause.

Image credit: Ella Doran

As part of their House of Cards campaign (which aims to raise awareness about the UK housing crisis) Shelter have organised a super-cool exhibition of work by artists, designers and architects – and Ella is one of the big names.

‘[Homelessness] is such a poignant cause, and so now’, Ella told me. ‘And it’s all the more humbling because it is happening during London Design Festival, the week when we celebrate design, houses and the interior. I think it should act as a rain check [for the industry]. It’s great that we are able to produce beautiful designs, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of others.’ Well said.

And this isn’t any ordinary exhibition, either. Oh no. The folks at Shelter have done something a little different. To fit with their theme, they’ve invited contributors to create works of art based on different cards from the pack. Ella’s 3 of Diamonds pillow (above) is based on the ‘concept of having shelter and somewhere to rest your head’.

Other famous creatives getting involved include Damien Hirst, Alexander McQueen, Rankin, Vivienne Westwood,  David Bailey, Sophie Conran and Sir Terence Conran and Henry Holland.

Quite an impressive line-up, wouldn’t you say? And guess who has the inside track on whose creating what?

A little birdie told me yesterday that Henry Holland has designed the Four of Diamonds as a dress, Sophie Conran has represented the Four of Spades using hand pressed paper with pressed leaves, and Sir Terence Conran has created the Ten of Spades as a self-portrait.

The full deck will be on display from the 24-28 September at the Haunch of Venison Gallery. Get down there and check it out.

Image credit: Martin Parr and Magnum (left) and Peter-McDonald (right)

But that’s not all that Ella is getting up to with Shelter. She has also invited numerous designers, artists and illustrators to design placemats for her aptly named ‘There’s no place like home‘ exhibition and auction. The exhibition will be held at her shop in Chesire street from 19 September – 3 October and launches with a tea party!

When I spoke to Ella, she was getting rather exctied about the imminent event: ‘It’s definitely going to have the wow factor. We’ve got so many artists contributing designs we’ve gutted our small shop to fit them all in! We want the way we exhibit the work to be as impressive as the pieces themselves’. She also revealed that her favourite designs from the collection are by Martin Parr and Peter McDonald (above).

Ella’s own photographic placemats are just as beautiful. My favourite are the Sunlight Through Leaves set – firmly on my wish list.

A silent auction will be held throughout the exhibition to sell the placemats, and all proceeds will go to Shelter. Why not head down and place a bid? Purchases that contribute to charity are fully justifiable in my eyes!

Three cheers for Shelter, Ella and art with heart.