The fantastic work of students from the schools of Art and Design at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) was praised by industry guests at the awards ceremony during the Art and Design Degree Show.
Footwear Design award winners Alex, Joanna and Hayley with Guy West of Jeffery-West shoes
Although there were only nine awards up for grabs at the end of a gruelling yet rewarding year for the Art and design students, members of the industry were amazed by the creativity of the work on show.
The awards ceremony was hosted by Barbara Matthews, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean for Art, Design and Humanities at DMU. The winners were:
School of Design Award: Jenny Watling (MDes Design Products) and Emily Storor (Contour Fashion)
Hayley Sharpe Design Award for Achievement in Exhibition: Chloe Brown (Interior Design)
Worshipful Company of Cordwainers Footwear Design Scholarship: Alex Blackman, Hayley Kim and Joanna Eden (all Footwear Design)
Worshipful Company of Dyers: Rosie Dougherty, 1st prize; Sophie Wright, 2nd prize; Hannah Brennan, 3rd prize (all Textile Design)
The Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters Bursary Award 2015: Catriona Pringle (Fashion Design)
Winner of Clothes Show Live Made in Britain Competition: Amy Jordan (Fashion Design)
Rita Rydin Prize for studentship: Megan Bunce and Louisa Haywood (both Contour Fashion)
The Daisy Pugh Award for Personal Development and Achievement: Rebecca Morgan, Lucy Fraser and Bethany McLeod (all Textile Design)
Following the awards ceremony, students had the opportunity to network with industry guests to show them their work and seek useful advice on what they need to do next to further their careers.
School of Design award winner Emily Storor with PVC Barbara Matthews
Hannah Brennan, who claimed her award for a beginner’s guide she wrote about the use of natural dyes and how fruits and vegetables can be used in the making of dyes, was delighted to have people from within the industry in attendance.
She said: “I’m so happy. This is such a good thing to put on my CV and the fact that the university has these industry connections is just so exciting as a student.”
Rosie Dougherty added: “I’m absolutely delighted to win, it’s a great opportunity to meet people from the industry and it’s great that De Montfort has such good industry links.”
Worshipful Company of Dyers award winner Rosie Dougherty with Geoff Rudkin of the Dyers Company, inc.
Alex Blackman, who received his award for achieving the greatest academic success out of 3rd year Footwear Design students, said: “This feels really good, it’s been a lot of hard work to get here so I’m just really happy it’s paid off.”
The bursary Alex received from his award will be used to help cover material costs from throughout his studies and will also help him pay for accommodation in London as he begins an internship with Oliver Sweeney in July.
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Megan Bunce, who received her award for her work ethic, attitude and commitment throughout the year, said: “It was such a surprise to win but I’m really grateful. It will inspire me to push on in my design career.
Megan is now looking forward to undertaking some work experience with London-based vintage lingerie company What Katie Did.
Worshipful Company of Framework Knitters Bursary Award winner Catriona Pringle
While it was an exciting evening for the students, the Art and Design Degree Show also presented an opportunity for figures from the design industry to take in the work of the current crop of students.
Guy West of Jeffery-West, who presented the Footwear Design awards, said: “The work I’ve seen has just been amazing.
“The work produced here seems to get better year after year. It sounds like a cliché but it’s not, it genuinely does improve year after year. They’re phenomenal.
“We look for people who understand brand identity, what the end user is looking for and also people who understand retail, and you can see that here.”
Georgina Boulter, Pantone Sales Manager at VeriVide and a DMU graduate herself, said: “Their work is really good, it’s all of an incredibly high standard. As someone who’s not from a design background I’m absolutely amazed where they get their inspiration from.”
David Ginsberg, Director of Sylvia Jeffery, said: “It’s great to see that what they learn here covers the skills on how things work in the real world rather than just doing theory-based learning.
“There’s always room for good designers. They need to have the work ethic, enthusiasm and the drawing skills to be able to get their ideas down.
“I’ve been really impressed with the students here. We have a couple on placements and we also employ a few DMU graduates as well.”
Posted on Thursday 18 June 2015