Fashion designer Jonathan Saunders has designed a collection of eight rugs, which mark a departure from the bright colours that the Scottish designer has become synonymous with.

The series of rugs with overlapping translucent blocks of colour, Saunders' second collection for British brand The Rug Company, will be launched at this year's London Design Festival.

"I was interested in exploring a subtler palette," said Saunders of his collection. "Working with colour for so long, I found it more interesting this time for the most part to work with a more muted palette, to find a new way of expressing ideas. Maybe I'm in a calmer chapter of my life and that's why!"

"However, there are of course some designs that are reminiscent of the bold clashing patterns that I love to design, that draw inspiration from weaving patterns and diagrams," he continued. "I still love designing this way."

Designs include the Clark rug, which was conceived as an abstract interpretation of a tower where overlapping rectangles in subtly different shades of grey are stacked alongside each other.

Like Clark, the Witton rug features planes of solid colours which overlap to create new tones. Witton is available in grey with a shock of cerulean, or a palette of lemon yellow, intense orange, burnt ochre and candy pink.

Saunders said to create the Clark and Witton compositions, he laid out translucent layers of glass and resin on a canvas overlapping them to make new blocks of colour.

Featuring bands of colours that are interwoven instead of overlaid, the Helio and Lewitt runner rugs feature criss-crossing patterns which are designed to evoke the process of weaving fabric. Both are available in a monochrome or bright colour palette.

Finally Herringbone Neutral features a series of concentric rectangles woven in various shades of silver and cream silk yarns overlaid with a herring bone pattern.

Saunders concludes: "I think the more muted approach in certain styles will allow the owner to integrate the designs into their own world, in their own way. A home is like a collage of different expressions and I think the new designs allow owners to make a statement without feeling overbearing."

Each of the rugs are handmade by The Rug Company's weavers in Kathmandu using Tibetan wool and silk.

The collection will launch during the London Design Festival with Saunders' designs showcased at The Rug Company's King's Road showroom in an interactive installation that spans two floors.

Other rug designs launching during London Design Festival include a diverse series of carpets by various different Dutch studios, which will be on show at the Dutch Stuff exhibtion within the London Design Fair this week. Pieces include colourful geometric rugs 3D printed from polyamide fibres, and blankets and rugs made using bespoke looms.