Hear from one of this year's New Designer of the Year Winners as we approach the end of ND18
It’s unbelievable to think that New Designers 2018 has almost come to an end. Having seen over 3,000 talented individuals exhibiting over the last two weeks across a realm of design disciplines.
Week one brought us the best of this years Textiles & Fashion, Costume Design, Surface Pattern Design, Ceramics & Glass, Jewellery and Contemporary Design Crafts, while this week the venue has seen designers from Product & Industrial Design, Furniture Design, Spatial Design & Interiors, Graphic Design, Illustration & Animation and Motion & Digital Arts.
The feeling each year attending this event is one of amazement in the level of creativity which the graduates and those designers at the newly named ‘One Year In’ bring to the show. To celebrate this passion for design we caught up with the week two New Designer of the Year.
Each year the Business Design Centre (BDC) supports an award winning designer in both weeks as decided by an independent panel of judges that look for a winner who is innovative, inspiring, engaging and forward thinking, reflecting the values of the BDC.
Week two’s winner was announced at the mid-week ceremony as Patrice Watson, of the University of West England in Bristol. Meeting with Patrice at the show, she explains that receiving the award was somewhat “surreal” and that her piece, the National Slavery Museum, has been a project requiring a vast amount of dedication; something that is clear from both the work and how passionately she recalls the process that took her to a pleasantly overwhelming unveiling of the final design.
In creating the concept for the museum design, which is on show until Saturday 7th July here at the BDC (Stand VC25), her research took her across the country on visits to the V&A, the Imperial War Museum and Bristol’s very own M Shed. Recalling a visit with a museum curator there, Patrice detailed the hours spent learning of the history of slavery with a particular emphasis that pointed her to the story of a man named George.
It’s clear that this final year task became a passion as so many design projects do, but hearing the way in which Patrice drew elements of the history into what is such a wonderfully modern piece of work is truly incredible. From the brass used on the exterior as was historically traded, to the laser cut pattern adorning it, you could easily expect this spectacular building to feature as a Grand Design; but what’s next for this new designer?
Studying interiors, Patrice explains, incorporates buildings as a whole and although she prefers residential, the course offers experience in everything from retail to offices. Having come to the show and been awarded with the highest of accolades, Patrice explains that nothing will put her off trying something new in the future and that the process of learning will go on. Watch this space, I say.
The week one winner was Luke Fuller from the University of Brighton who received the award for his work with ceramics. The judges commented that, “People have been working with ceramics for over 30,000 years, but Luke has managed to bring an original and unique approach to the material.” For more information on Patrice, Luke and all of the awards winners from this year head over to the New Designers website.
New Designers is open until 5pm on Saturday 7th July 2018 and is a celebration of visionary design that sees students of 200+ creative courses unveiling never-before-seen work to thousands of industry professionals and design lovers. One definitely not to miss!
For more information on the events taking place at the BDC have a look at our upcoming events listings.
Posted by Kate
