RISING STARS: BOLTON SCHOOL OF ARTS GRADUATES SCOOP INDUSTRY AWARDS FOR SURFACE DESIGN
“It is important for us, and the graduates, to look to alternative ways to promote and celebrate their achievements. We are extremely proud of this year’s students and the quality of work on our new digital gallery reflects the range of talent and skills within the group”. - UNLOCKED 2020 SHOWCASE
BA(Hons) Textiles and Surface Design Students gain recognition through industry awards at UNLOCKED show and New Designers for Dezeen.
During recent months BA(Hons)Textiles and Surface Design students at the University of Bolton have shown real resilience and tenacity to overcome major hurdles in order to create their final year outcomes without facilities or access to their studio spaces. They have created an extensive range of outcomes to include designs for textiles and surfaces for galleries, hotels, transportation, fashion and tableware.
The Industry selected Creative Show Awards offered an opportunity to celebrate the significant achievements of student work and this year several renowned companies supported our students including AVA CAD CAM, Edinburgh Weavers Ltd. and Standfast & Barracks (to be announced).
HANNAH CALVERT
VIEW PORTFOLIO https://www.textilesboltonuni.co.uk/hannah-calvert
This year final major projects were diverse and reflected individual student personalities, linking to their interests in design for particular industries. Hannah Calvert’s collection for interior furnishings for the restaurant market has been inspired by visits to Rome, Lake Como and Milan as a response to the MIX Autumn/Winter trend ‘Gorge’. ‘Radical Classical’ is a collection of high-end interior wallcoverings and fabrics inspired by all areas of historical Italian art and culture. The combination of modern Neoclassical and eighteenth-century Baroque elements are used to create ‘maximalist’ and dramatic prints, whilst the bright ‘candy-like’ colours are used for a more modern interpretation. A variety of techniques including mark-making and observational paintings were used, paying close attention to detail within artefacts, architecture, sculpture and art.
‘I always aim to be as original as is possible within my work and create patterns that are surprising and striking, whether by use of colour or imagery. It is important for me to keep up with trends, whilst still being brave enough to create something out of the ordinary, which I believe ‘Radical Classical’ has allowed me to do.’ Hannah Calvert
‘The course has allowed me to explore a wide variety of applied techniques, as well as giving me the knowledge to apply my skills, be less critical and more confident about the work that I produce. I never expected to receive the amount of industry experience and opportunity to work on live briefs, and the personal support and guidance was above my expectations. An important part of my experience studying Textiles and Surface Print Design was the fantastic learning environment, the studio space created a communal and interactive work environment that I enjoyed coming to everyday. I believe the course has not only prepared me for a career that I am passionate about, but also given me talented lifelong friends.’
Hannah has been fortunate this year to be awarded the Creative Degree Show 2020 prize by AVA CAD CAM and has recently started their online design programme. Debbie Buchan, a valued member of the course’s Industry Advisory Board selected Hannah’s work.
Hannah responded to her award by saying ‘I am incredibly happy to have won the AVA CAD/CAM award, as it is a great opportunity to extend my knowledge of the software. The promotion and AVA training is a fantastic award for recent graduates, this is a skill that is sought after by the industry.’
Debbie Buchan AVA CAD CAM LTD commented:
“There were several students that caught my eye when looking through Boltons Textile and Surface Design final year work. I felt that the diversity and quality of work overall was very high and was a testament to the hard work, drive and passion of both the students and the lecturers - particularly during these very difficult and challenging times.
I feel that the entire teaching team at Bolton have played an extremely important role supporting, motivating and inspiring the students. Pushing them to keep striving and driving. Challenging, encouraging and guiding the designers to develop a wide range of skills. Ultimately adapting their creativity to illustrate their unique signature strengths.
It was the quality of Hannahs drawing and painting, her professionally presented and executed designs, coupled by the sheer volume of work and quirky colourways that made Hannahs my clear winner.
I can't wait for Hannah to attend the course to see what additional skills we can help her develop. It will be exciting to see how Hannah manipulates and develops her work further using AVA.
I sincerely hope that Hannah enjoys the training course and it provides her with important additional skills required in industry. Not just learning the AVA software and its key features of; real time repeating, colour separation, quick, simple and accurate colourways, but helping with industry knowledge, specific technical processes, all the way through to what types of jobs are out there.
Now more than ever it is vital that we support our creative industries, and industry supports education and the next generation of up and coming designers. Allowing fresh talent to grow, input and help contribute to this fabulous creative industry we are part of."
I very much look forward to seeing what Hannah does next and wish her and all this years graduates all the very best for their future careers”.
Donna Claypool, Programme Leader says
“It has been a turbulent time for students on the course, given the changes made to their studies brought about by the COVID19 situation – however our students have been able to use their professional skills developed on the course, coupled with traditional design and making skills to develop a range of high quality outcomes we were able to present online. It is important for us, and the graduates, to look to alternative ways to promote and celebrate their achievements. We are extremely proud of this year’s students and the quality of work on our new digital gallery reflects the range of talent and skills within the group”.
SCARLETT GREENWOOD
VIEW PORTFOLIO https://www.textilesboltonuni.co.uk/scarlett-greenwood
Scarlett Greenwood gained a prize for her ‘Reverie Florale’ collection from Edinburgh Weavers Ltd.
Scarlett explained ‘My final collection was initially inspired by the Mix colour hive trend “Reverie”, I wanted my collection to heavily informed by a trend as this would help create a commercial standard within my work. I was inspired heavily by designers such as Osborne and Little, Designers Guild and Prestigious Textiles and wanted to create a collection with a variety of pattern and subject matter. I took imagery inspiration through market stall florals and embellishments of 1940s jewellery to create conversational pieces within my collection. I also wanted to capture the simplicity of this imagery through colour experimentation and mark making to create minimalistic designs that would sit well within the collection with busy conversational pieces. I wanted the imagery in these designs to be a mixture of hand painted and drawn to showcase my style of hand, photoshop and AVA were then used to create the repeat structures. This collection explores themes of romance and being within a place of pleasant thought through busy florals, soft textures and ornate designs.’
Discussing the issues that affected the group this year Scarlett went on to explain
“Because our creative show was online this year I felt very apprehensive about how my work would come across to industry advisors so when I received the award from Edinburgh weavers it was a huge confidence boost. It’s was amazing to get recognition from such a renowned industry professional for work I created, especially because my collection was aimed towards a similar market to their target audience”.
During my time at university I loved the opportunity to experiment and the way we were encouraged to push our existing skills to the highest standard as well as explore new techniques.
Having my own studio space was a huge part of my experience at university, I loved being in the studio with other students and really felt it enhanced our creativity in our ideas and work. I also think the various industry trips we went on and advisors that we met helped me to realistically prepare for after graduating. The wide range of specialist skills held by each teacher allowed us to gain deep knowledge within all areas that we wanted, their commitment to us was evident throughout all three years.’
VAHEKENY RODRIGUES
VIEW PORTFOLIO https://www.textilesboltonuni.co.uk/vahekeny-rodrigues
Vahekeny Rodrigues was spotted by New Designers and selected from over 3,000 student projects that were due to be exhibited at this year’s edition of the New Designers exhibition who featured in the Virtual Design Festival organised by Dezeen, under the theme ‘Bold/Geometric’.
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/06/30/new-designers-bold-geometric-design-graduates-vdf-school-shows/
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Geonature offers two collections – a bespoke collection for the hospitality and hotel industry, and a commercial collection for transport design. Vahekeny has explored plant and natural forms, alongside insects and fauna; and has also examined structural qualities found within cityscapes alongside the 2020 / 2021 trend and colour report ‘Multi-Local’ from Heimtextil 2020 international trade fair.
The Textiles and Surface Design Programme this year won the ‘NEW AND NEXT’ competition and were able to exhibit graduate and student work in the Design Hall 3 at Heimtextil in January this year.
https://heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/press/press-releases/heimtextil/new-next-university-competition-2020.html
The transport collection has been inspired by renowned textile designers such as Enid Marx, and the hospitality collection made reference to design companies including Timorous Beasties, and others housed at the Chelsea Harbour Design Centre.
Designs were printed by repeat registration using a range of techniques such as devore, flock and foil printing onto different fabric substrates, both as fabric samples to obtain different textural qualities, and to take to the computer using Adobe Creative Suite and AVA CAD CAM as part of the inherent design process.
‘The BA(HONS) in Textiles Surface Design at the University of Bolton enabled me to gain various skills and techniques for textiles from traditional screen printing to digital software. For my final project I focussed on contemporary building facades across the UK, which were explored through a playful use and combination of collage, layering materials and screen-printing, capturing the reflections on glass and concrete to provide a spectral palette from which to experiment.
