The Three Degrees
It is almost time for students to make a show of themselves. For an industry that relies on fresh blood to evolve, the Degree Shows are an important view of the talent that will be occupying creative departments across the UK soon.
Gray’s Degree Show 2009 is set to illustrate the important cultural and social issues that are right at the heart of graduates’ creative inquiry. International, people-oriented and local community-based themes, as well as live projects capturing the drive that the industry has for the arts, show that emerging talent from Gray’s is not only creative but also connected, professionally focussed and culturally aware.
Fiona Taylor’s prize-winning work encompasses rich layered images of poured paint on large canvases to give the viewer a sense of abstracted landscapes. While, inspired by Scottish weather, Catherine Langworth has utilised abandoned fabric and made up patterns using the mud and sand of the north-east coastline.
Laura Turner has drawn inspiration from her travels after being placed second in the European Fashion Awards last year. An eco-friendly approach remains an important theme in Laura’s work and she hopes to start up her own business producing textiles for interiors, having already gained the support of NESTA.
Live projects, in which students work on real solutions for real industry partners, are an essential part of many courses at Gray’s too. A rebranding project Scott Mathieson took part in, on behalf of the Maritime Rescue Institute (MRI), has seen him produce a state-of-the-art website for the charity.
Gray’s School of Art opens its 2009 Degree Show to the public on Saturday 13 June.
CARDONALD COLLEGE
Cardonald College Glasgow’s reputation for preparing design students for art school and university is second to none in the west of Scotland and the College’s annual student exhibitions showcase the high standard of work that has come to be expected of Cardonald students.
Exhibitions in the areas of Fashion, Graphic Design, Jewellery, Portfolio Preparation and Textiles will be held in the College on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 June. Cardonald College Glasgow can be accessed in eight minutes by train from Glasgow Central Station.
A separate exhibition for Advanced Diploma Graphic Design students is being held on the fifth floor of the Mitchell Library from Tuesday 2 to Sunday 14 June. The Advanced Diploma qualification is equivalent to degree level with the majority of students progressing directly into employment.
The College’s NQ and HND Fashion Design, Fashion Technology and Textile students’ annual catwalk show ‘Cardonald Rocks’ is in the Old Fruitmarket on the evening of Friday 5 June. Tables and individual tickets are available for this event which will showcase Scotland’s fashion stars of the future. Students from the Royal Scottish Academy for Music and Drama will also be performing. Former students of the College’s fashion department include Graeme Armour, Scottish Young Designer of the Year 2008, Derek Walker, Tammy Cane and Louise Gray.
Tables of 10 are priced at £175 and individual tickets are £17.50. A drinks reception will be held from 6.45. To purchase tickets, please contact Katherine MacLachlan on 0141 272 3283 or kmaclachlan@cardonald.ac.uk
STAFFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY
Summer’s here and so is the Staffordshire University Arts, Media and Design Degree show. Two courses working the walls are Advertising and Brand Management and Graphic Design. These two highly creative and diverse courses are using the opportunity to flex some design muscle, and the work on show is sure to be fantastically varied and intriguing.
Graphic Design and Illustration at Staffordshire University focuses around the communication of ideas and encourages the use of many different mediums and methods of creative output. The course offers freedom for creativity and original concepts. The success of the course is visible, in that four students submitted award-winning work to the D&AD Student Competition this year and one Illustration student was also successful in the Penguin Book Jacket Design Competition. Both Graphics and Advertising and Brand Management contributed to Staffordshire University cleaning up at the Roses Student Creativity Awards with a huge eleven students shortlisted.
Advertising and Brand Management is a unique course and is industry led in every way. Many of the projects are live briefs, competition briefs and work set by agencies. Much of the work at level 3 is sought out by the students and is intended for more than University submission. Students gain experience from pitching their work in agencies, to clients, creatives and account directors. The course allows for innovative ideas and nurtures skills in idea generation and awareness of branding, planning, strategy, communications and team-working.
UNIVERSTIY OF ABERTAY
The talents of 36 computer arts and creative sound production students will be on show at the University of Abertay Dundee’s Hannah Maclure Centre from Friday 22nd May.
The show is a chance for potential employers and other interested parties to view some of the freshest and most innovative talent that will soon be available to the UK’s creative and computing industries. Several of last year’s exhibits have gone on to win awards, with their creators securing coveted jobs around the world.
This year’s exhibits include collaborations between both courses such as ‘Fishy Science’ and ‘Death of a Metaphor’. These animations and many others featured in the degree show will no doubt be popping up at future animation festivals so catch them while you can.
Other exhibitors have been exploring innovative ways in which media can be used and interacted with, including ‘The future of the comic book’, ‘Flying South’, and ‘Overgrown’ all of which exemplify novel ways of story telling. Avant-garde auditory imagery and highly directional loudspeakers for practical sound management in nightclubs, from Acousta Professional Sound Reinforcement will also be on display.
Abertay is world renowned for its courses in creative arts and is due to open the UK’s first ever centre for excellence in computer games education later this year. Graduates enjoy good employment prospects and work experience with some of the leading companies in creative entertainment such as Disney and Sony. Students and academics have won several awards in their various fields.
An animated film made by a team involving Abertay and Dundee university students recently won the prestigious Best Children’s Animation award at the Stuttgart International Animation Festival.
Students from Abertay’s Computer Games Technology and Computer Arts courses were recently shortlisted for an ELAN award, a major international award held in North America. Abertay students also received the first ever BAFTA new talent award for computer games. Current students have had their games picked up by developers whilst a number of graduates have released their own games under the employ of various games companies.
Abertay’s BA (Hons) in creative sound production was the first sound production course in Scotland to be accredited by JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Services). Many students have gone on to careers in the industry directly from graduation, often receiving job offers during their final year.