DMU students briefed for success by Sainsbury's


Textile Design and Design Crafts students at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have been set an exclusive brief by a supermarket giant for the chance to showcase at a prestigious exhibition.

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Andrew Tanner, Design Manager at Sainsbury's

The opportunity was announced in the landmark Vijay Patel Building this week – DMU’s new home to art and design subjects - by Sainsbury’s Design Manager Andrew Tanner. Together with members of his team he gave students valuable insight into the company’s history and design process.

One winner from each course will be presented with a prize at DMU’s upcoming Degree Show in June, and will have their work showcased on the Sainsbury’s stand at New Designers in July - the UK’s most important platform for emerging young designers from Britain’s leading courses.

Josefina Martinez, a designer for Sainsbury’s who graduated from DMU’s Design Crafts course last year, was part of the team who briefed and inspired the students.

She said: “I was first introduced to Sainsbury’s in my second year, when I completed a three-week placement with them and it definitely helped me to get to where I am today.

“The partnership between DMU and Sainsbury’s is a big advantage because it has led to four DMU students, including myself, getting jobs with the company after graduating, with some working in design and others in buying.

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“My course also helped me. It is so broad that there are a lot of different career prospects, and you get to study things like manufacturing and development, as well as doing mock interviews and presentations.

“I would advise students to apply for placements, as you never know who you might meet, and to be broad-minded by putting yourself out there as much as you can.”

As well as the two main awards, Sainsbury’s will also recognise the potential of a number of other students with smaller prizes during the Degree Show.

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Students across all three years of their degree attended the presentation, including final-year Textile Design student Jess Beeby, who said: “Sainsbury’s working with DMU is exciting because it gives us an opportunity to get involved with the industry.

“It is very motivating and it urges us to be more professional in order to get them to notice our work at the Degree Show at the end of the year.”

Second year Design Crafts student Aimee Williams added: “I find the possibility of having my work featured at New Designers really interesting, as it’s a great opportunity to get the chance to win something.

“I feel I’ve learnt a lot about Sainsbury’s and how their design team works. I’m interested to see how the partnership works this time, because it worked so well last year.”

DMU’s longstanding partnership with Sainsbury’s recently saw final-year Design Crafts student Sarah Jane Charlton beat competition from four other course mates to earn a two-week placement with the company’s design team.

Posted on Friday 7 April 2017

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