Recognising first hand the many difficulties in surviving as an artist or designer Shirley set up designGAP in 1980 to assist high quality, innovative, contemporary designers, makers and design-producers with the marketing of their work, not as an agent but as a catalyst. She still runs designGAP voluntarily as a non profit venture and over years well over 2000 designers have been involved.

Many well established and newly emerging design-producers and design-makes have shown with her on Trade Show stands and at Retail Exhibitions, in fashion, giftware, jewellery and interior accessories in the UK and overseas. designGAP and its exhibitions have won many awards and been featured on television, in newspapers feature articles and magazines.

Shirley's photograph library of designers' work has been useful to a number of specialist writers and in the early 1980's it was the main source for a V&A Museum Collection of Contemporary Fashion Jewellery.

In the mid 1980's there was a small designGAP shop for fashion accessories in Hyper-Hyper London which she set up as a designer co-operative. Later she opened a designGAP Showroom in Birmingham as a year-long experiment.

In the spring of 1997she published her first designGAP BUYERS' GUIDE, and since then there have been annual editions. This august there are updates of the directory in two retailers magazines 'Progressive Gifts' and 'Homes Worldwide' and also as a supplement in 'Picture Business'. Additional related information is available to everyone from the constantly growing website www.design-gap.co.uk.

There is a continuing Trade fair presence at major UK venues with designGAP aisles or clusters of group and independent stands. As many designGAP members also show at Consumer fairs there are designGAP areas in some of those.

Shirley is still searching for a permanent administrive home for designGAP where there can be an archive of all the projects, and visual information on the 250 members. If space allows changing exhibitions will mirror exhibitions on the website. In the meantime there is a photographic bank of reference at the office at 607b The Big Peg and a small display of that year Shirley was presented the GA's Honorary Achievement Award "for her major contribution to the UK gift industry" and in December she received an Honorary Doctorate from the Business School of the University of Birmingham for her innovative work with mini micro businesses.

A Brief 'C.V.' of designGAP and founder

Shirley Frost graduated from Royal College of Art in Ceramics and travelling scholarships took her to Egypt, Czechoslovakia, Mexico and USA. She was a fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers; Fellow of the Society of Designer Craftsmen and Founder Member of the Designer Jewellers Group. Shirley has lectured in and run courses on, 3D Design and Practice, Drawing for Designers, and Design Crafts.

Shirley's own work, ceramics, small sculptures, jewellery and paintings - has been shown in solo and group exhibitions and at specialist Trade fairs. She has had commemorative commissions and other works selected onto the Design Council Index of Designers, and has been included in many of their exhibitions.