They're making the best of it: Their inspiration is sacred and modern, near and far. Jonathan Glancey picks the cream of the crop from a show by design graduates

HOW CAN you find out what the next generation of young designers is up to? The simple answer is to visit 'The New Designers', an exhibition sponsored by the Business Design Centre and the Chartered Society of Designers. It shows the work of new graduates from many of Britain's best design colleges, including adventurous new textiles, jewellery, furniture and product design. 'British industry hasn't been too keen on seeing what young designers can do,' says Andrew Morris, director of the Business Design Centre. 'This year - our sixth and best - we hope it will take more interest; it's a shame to see such talent ignored.'

'The New Designers', 9 to 12 July, Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, London N1 (071-359 3535 for details).

STEPHEN HARTLEY, air-conditioned motorcycle helmet

Stephen Hartley (Industrial Design, Brunel University) does not ride a motorbike, but he comes from a family of engineers and has made what might well be the world's first practical air-conditioned motorcycle helmet. The bike provides the juice to spin the fan that blows the air into the helmet. The flow of air keeps the visor mist-free; it escapes through 'gills' in the back of the sharkish helmet. A filter keeps out fumes, dust and pollen, the power-pack is designed to crush safely if the rider falls on it and each part of the helmet can be unclipped in a split second. Stephen is now working on the design of a power-pack that will chill the air to make summer and city riding a safe pleasure.

ANDREW HENDERSON, recumbent bicycle

Andrew Henderson (3D Design, Gwent College of Higher Education) first built a 'recumbent' bicycle as a schoolboy in Ballyshannon, the Irish Republic. His latest is a highly finished, roadworthy product that he hopes will be in production soon. He says: 'This could be the next craze after mountain bikes. Recumbents have been banned from races for being too fast; mine's not quite so quick, but it's very stable and comfortable.'

GILLIAN FINLAY, silver and gold jewellery

Gillian Finlay (Jewellery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee) plans to return to Hong Kong, where she was brought up, now she has refined her skills as a silver- and goldsmith. She says her distinctive designs, fusing images and words, are derived from shrines and religious artefacts around the world. Gillian, a poet, wants to continue the exploration of aboriginal religious artefacts she began in Australia. She makes rings, necklaces and ear-rings, but her favourite is a gold and silver 'confessional' threaded through with textiles; you write down the things that haunt you, then hide them inside the confessional, leaving you with a clear conscience and a beautiful piece of jewellery.

JOANNE SALMON, abstract printed fabrics

Joanne Salmon (Textiles, Middlesex University) is from Falmouth, Cornwall; she has drawn inspiration for her printed fabrics, she says, exclusively from Cornish sources and particularly from local painters such as Patrick Heron, Ben Nicholson and John Hoyland. She plans eventually to live and work in Cornwall, but says 'my fabrics are far too abstract to use in Cornish homes, so I expect to be in London for some while'.

'I like to work in a very splashy, painterly way,' she says, 'and my experience at Middlesex has taught me how it is possible to capture oil paints on printed textiles. I've been impressed by the way that tutors at Middlesex have encouraged us to use our local culture as one possible source for our work; they don't try to impose a style - they try to bring you out of your private shell.

'I went to see Patrick Heron recently,' she adds. 'He's now working in an Aboriginal style - it's fashionable now, I know - and I'd like to see if I can take Aboriginal art into textiles.'

CAROLINE GALVIN, abstract printed fabrics

Caroline Galvin (Textiles, Middlesex University) was training to be a nurse when she went on holiday, first to India and then to Kenya. She was stunned by the colours she saw in both countries - 'not by the bright acid yellows, pinks and blues, but the deep, rich aubergine and plum colours that the poorest people dress in' - and decided to paint.

Her painting took her to Middlesex University, where she has translated her Indian- and African-inspired colour sense into textiles. 'I also love the work of painters such as Mark Rothko and Howard Hodgkin,' she says. 'I like their saturated use of deep colours; as with the colours I saw on my holidays, they struck a deep chord.'

Caroline is now unsure of the direction she should move in. 'I'm not that excited by mass-market textiles: I'd like to do one-off pieces while developing my painting. I'd also like to travel a lot more - I wouldn't have thought of becoming a designer unless I had taken those holidays.'

(Photographs omitted)