Northbrook Students Are The New Designers
Graduating degree students have been exhibiting their work in London at the annual New Designers show and the Free Range art show.
New Designers 2008 Exhibition
F inal year design students from Northbrook College scooped awards and attracted much attention from top companies at the New Designers Exhibition in London. The two-part show brought together over 4000 graduates from around the country who were all eager to walk away with one of the New Designer Awards.
Kate Laskey , 28, a final year Surface and Textile student, was awarded the New Designer Harlequin Award and received a six week work placement with the company and £1000. Kate, alongside fellow course students, displayed her final major project to impressed design companies.
Kate’s project titled ‘Ten stops from home’ featured a collection of wallpapers, furnishing and upholstery fabrics and cushions that all incorporate images noted from her journey to and from college over the past three years. Kate, who travelled from Hastings to Goring every day, stopped off at ten different places and drew images from the various stops. Her sketchbook became one long travel journey with images from towns such as Shoreham, Brighton and Eastbourne, that she then developed into her project. The judges commented that her designs were inspirational and highly individual.
Kate’s textile tutor, Tom Embleton, certainly agreed with the judge’s statement and said, “Kate has a unique drawing style and a very good sense of colour. Her work is very individual, creating printed fabrics with elements of hand and machine embroidery.”
Kate is undoubtedly pleased with her success and commented, “Winning this award has been a fantastic end to my three years studying. I am looking forward to working with Harlequin and I am excited about my future career in design”.
Jamie Sheppard , 21, who has just completed a HND in 3D Design, impressed judges with his unique clever chair that simply flips from a chair into a bed. He attracted interest from both a scout looking for innovative and talented designers to display work in the Ideal Home Exhibition next spring and also for a major international trade fair, 100% Design, held in London.
Several other students who have just completed the BA 3D Crafts degree also had interest from galleries and individuals which they intend to chase up with promising career prospects.
Illustration and Communication Design students continued the success the following weekend with praise and interest from a number of companies and agencies. Companies such as Oxford University Press and the BBC, alongside other smaller up-and-coming agencies and publishers, requested the students send them samples and sell them their prints, as well as offering them opportunities to develop their styles commercially.
Free Range Graduate Art Show
F ine Art students from the college also displayed work at the Free Range Graduate Summer Shows also held in London. Deemed the ‘World’s Largest Art Happening’, the students successfully sold work and secured contracts for future sales. To view their talented work, visit the Free Range website at www.free-range.org.uk.
It has no doubt been an incredibly busy and exciting period for Northbrook students. The exhibitions and shows have been a terrific end to the academic year and set the students up to go on to achieve fantastic future success.
PHOTOS:
Kate Laskey with her winning work