Northumbria’s graduates set their designs even higher after award wins

The graduating class from Northumbria University is celebrating more than just finishing their studies after gaining a raft of accolades in the field of design.

A total of 49 students from the School of Design, which offers programmes across a number of disciplines, covering industrial, fashion, communication and innovation design, exhibited their work at New Designers, the longest running design showcase in the country – many picking up several awards in the process.

One of the event’s big winners was Harriet Almond of the Design for Industry course, who will spend six weeks on placement with sponsor and functional homeware creator Joseph Joseph, whose judges selected Harriet’s project Snoot for the Brilliantly Useful Design Award.

Snoot provides a potential solution to reduce household food waste and Harriet said of the win: “I’ve admired Joseph Joseph for a really long time now and wanted to incorporate the brand’s playfulness and sense of possibility into my ideas. To now have the opportunity to be immersed in its design team is amazing.

“New Designers was such as exciting place to be and the whole thing has been a bit of a rollercoaster, but I can’t wait.”

In addition to Harriet, whose work was also shortlisted for the DCA Award for Product and Industrial Design, four more Design for Industry students were shortlisted for a total of seven awards: Ed Kerfoot, Sam Willcox, Zahrah Thomas and Ewan Morrell, while six 3D Design students made the shortlist for a further nine awards between them. They were: Bob Cornforth, Alfie Clarke, Will Siddell, Sarah El Baker, Adam Speight and Cora Murphy.

New Designers is now in its 38^thyear and displays the work produced on 200 of the UK’s flagship design courses, connecting the finest students with leading lights of industry.

Rose Wong is a tutor and senior lecturer on the Design for Industry course, and Programme leader for 3D Design. She said: “Well done to the students and to all the staff and technical team who helped us get this far. This has involved a lot of work by a lot of people, so it really is time for a collective celebration, and I can’t wait to see this group go on to change the world with their talent and ideas.”

Graphic Design student Poppy Scoffings, who is from Nottingham, attended the event fresh from gaining the ‘New Blood’ graphite pencil award in the 2022 Design and Art Direction Pencils, an accolade her tutor describes as “the highest design accolade you can get”. 

She was named runner up in the New Designer of the Year Award category for Week Two of the 2022 event, which featured work in furniture design, product and industrial design, spatial design and visual communications, including graphic design, illustration, animation, motion and digital arts.

Poppy’s work was also recognised by Joseph Joseph alongside that of her coursemate Abbie Malton after the pair worked together on the branding of the BA in Graphic Design’s trade stand, a taste of which can be viewed on YouTube and on Instagram @wellcannylike.

Abbie enjoyed individual success too, having been highly commended for her teenage podcast kit as one of the best in show for ethical and environmental design by another sponsor, Creative Conscience.

Abbie, who was given a tutor-nominated studentship award at her recent graduation ceremony, explained: “I felt very honoured to receive this recognition from Creative Conscience as I love its work and as a non-profit, it’s amazing at helping people, the environment and the community, so that means a lot.

The idea behind my design is to encourage young people to talk to one another again after experiencing the isolation of Covid-19, and I’m hoping to develop it for use in the real world following this success.”

Now returning to her native Hull to start work at a visual media company, Abbie feels much of the success gained at New Designers is down to the support given by Northumbria School of Design.

She said: “Our tutors really help and really care, offering insight and support at every stage while encouraging you to work independently. I really feel we wouldn’t have done half as well if it wasn’t for them.”

Vic Newton is third year lead for the Graphic Design programme at the University and feels this is a fitting note for the graduating class of 2022 to be ending their studies on.

She said: “New Designers is an incredible showcase opportunity for our students and one that they always grab with both hands.

“It’s always amazing to see everyone’s final projects come together, and to see them interact with people from all parts of the design world in such a confident way. This is a very proud moment.”

This year’s winners were presented with their awards by Dr Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A Museum, who motivated the audience with passionate words of encouragement to carry forward into their design careers.

Cheryl Carroll, Event Director for New Designers, which took place at Islington’s Business Design Centre between June 28^th and July 8^th, said: “New Designers is all about championing design excellence and supporting the best creative talent the UK has to offer.

“We had an amazing breadth as well as quality of work on show this year; for us, it’s an honour to witness the journeys that the graduates have gone through in the last couple of years, and how those experiences have influenced their final-year work.

“It was fantastic to see such high calibre of work from Northumbria University and we would like to congratulate both the students who were shortlisted and those who won awards. We hope their achievements lead to future opportunities and further success.”

Discover more about studying design at Northumbria online at northumbria.ac.uk.

ENDS

The full list of students exhibiting at New Designers were:

Design for Industry (furniture, industrial design and product design) –

Aatu Ellesmere, Amy Usher, Angus Douglas, Christopher Buckle, Edward Kerfoot, Edward Strachan, Ethan Cooper, Ewan Morrell, Greg Shipley, Harriet Almond, Harry Wills, Hector Owles, Jaideep Verma, Jenson Small, Jonny Birch, Katie Holt, Matthew Carrell, Millie Parry, Nick Coray, Patrick Dryden, Phoebe Lewis, Raegan Purvis, Rosie Eley, Sam Willcox, William Palierakis, William Thompson, Zahrah Thomas.

3D Design - Furniture and Product (Furniture, jewellery and precious metalwork, product design) –

Adam Speight, Anayis Chiarini, Alfie Clarke, Cora Murphy, Dorothy Ojerio, Hannah Bolger, Bob Cornforth, Sam McEntee, Sarah El Baker, Reece Walker and Will Siddell.

Graphic Design (graphic design, illustration and Visual communications) –

Poppy Scoffings, Abbie Malton, Ben Clarke, Aurelia Lonsdale, Woei Thing Tay, Emily Pitman, Heather Emery, Shekania Padmadjaja, Callum Jones, Catherine Brunwell and John Deehan.

The full list of accolades for the Design for Industry and 3D Design students is as follows:

Design for Industry

Harriet Almond

Joseph Joseph award – New Designers 2022 award winner

DCA award – shortlist

Ed Kerfoot

Joseph Joseph award - shortlist

John Lewis award - shortlist

Sam Willcox

Made – celebrating extraordinary design shortlist

Habitat – shortlist

Zahrah Thomas

Lego award - shortlist

Ewan Morrell

Anglepoise – shortlist

Design District - shortlist

3D Design

Bob Cornforth

Conran award – Design award shortlist

Habitat – shortlist

John Lewis award - shortlist

Alfie Clarke

Conran award – Design award shortlist

Will Siddell

Made – celebrating extraordinary design shortlist

Sarah El Baker

Made – celebrating extraordinary design shortlist

Hallmark - Design award shortlist

Adam Speight

Made – celebrating extraordinary design shortlist

Cora Murphy

Colour in Design Award – shortlist.