It’s primarily about colour. There’s always a hand-drawn element to my work, even if I didn’t make the base product, I’d still paint on top of it. There’s a hand-drawn element to almost everything I do.

I’ve always been drawn to colour, even since I was a youngster. It feels natural to me so I can’t seem to relate to people who say they are scared to use it. When it comes to playing around with colour, it’s factual that some combinations work and some don’t. I think when people look at my work, they think it’s just about using any single colour, but it’s far from that. I’d like to think there is something more calculative about my approach. You have to develop your own colour combinations through trial and error and learn to understand the proportion of how you use them.

Yellow. I’m a new fan of orange but yellow is just something I really enjoy. I use a lot of it in my work but I wouldn’t wear it. Maybe mustard though…

I think it has made me appreciate what I do even more. There’s definitely a small creative movement in Cumbria considering there isn’t a huge body of people who live there. That definitely made an impact on me. When you live somewhere remote, taking up arts and crafts gave you another form of entertainment, but I often wonder if I had grown up in London, which has a lot going on creatively, would I have appreciated it as much?

It’s definitely getting easier for me to say, but I find it difficult because I work on a lot of projects that revolve around fashion and design, generally everything except gallery-based work. Not that I think you have to show in a gallery to be considered as an artist, but there is still somewhat of a thing about displaying work in an exhibition space. I’d quite like to do that though but I think I’m still working towards it, I’m not in a hurry.

It’s true, it’s a more relevant way of working nowadays and I think it’s a response to how we consume things. Creating work for solely for a gallery space is almost defunct now because your practice doesn’t need to be just that. Saying that, there’s still something nice about showing work in a formal format.

It’d be interesting to work with a gallery and be given the time to create a whole new layer of work. Knowing the space I’d be designing for I could scale-up my work and create larger pieces.

I’m definitely interested in moving into more sculptural, 3D pieces that shift the focus from function to form, colour and material. I would love to create more abstract pieces of work that are even bigger and shown in an outdoor setting. Even if it starts with a drawing, I love the idea of collaborating with someone else to fabricate large-scale work in metal – that would be interesting.

It’s the process I enjoy the most. Even if the work was fabricated by somebody else, I’d physically still be involved in it some way or another. I like the idea of hand finishing work, not that I think it makes the work any better, but I think it gives you the opportunity to make your own mark.

I’ve started collecting keyrings and trinkets. I never wear them but I have these little clip-on brooches and accessories. I recently bought the J.W. Anderson sprinkle doughnut bag charm and it’s so stupid because I would never wear it – but they almost become idyllic little objects in their own right. I like stuff like that.

You’ve got to want to do it, especially in finding the time and place to be creative. I think as we move into adulthood we become more worried about the outcome of our work, that it’s not going to be good enough, but as a child you don’t have that fear, do you? It’s for enjoyment, that’s the key thing to remember.

I have a few upcoming projects that I’m really looking forward to but I’m most excited to be working alongside my studio mate, Ian McIntyre. We started a little separate sideline project called Super Group and worked together on a project with Hem, a Swedish interior company and designed a range of not-so-little ceramic objects like a rainbow, a flower and a cloud, which was fun. We definitely have a few more projects in the mix.

I usually have to come up with something quite quickly but it’s just about listening to your client, understanding what they want, and thinking about how you can meet them in the middle so you’re getting something creatively out of it too. I couldn’t work with someone who would want to pare me back so much.

In the last two years, Pride has shifted somewhat. Corporations and brands have become more opportunistic, using the month as a marketing tool and I think this has led to the misuse of the true meaning of Pride. In my opinion, brands need to be giving back to the community by working with an LGBTQ+ charity to raise money and awareness. In the least sensitive cases, selling rainbow flag merchandise is an empty gesture.

I get together with a group of friends and join in on the parade. It’s a time for celebrating as well as visibility and I regularly donate my artwork to a few charities to help raise funds and awareness. For me, it’s not just a yearly event, it’s ongoing. I’m lucky to work in a field where I can do what I want quite unapologetically with the work I present to the world, I don’t shy away from any representation of myself.

To celebrate Pride, John Booth has designed a celebratory window display for our London flagship St. Christopher’s Place, South Molton Street, Edinburgh and Brighton stores. A Limited Edition Rainbow print designed by John Booth is also available to purchase with 100% of the proceeds going to the Albert Kennedy Trust, an LGBTQ+ charity that supports young people affected by homelessness.