17 July 2012
DJCAD graduates racking up the prizes
A pair of graduates from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design are celebrating after winning major prizes at this year's New Designers event in London.
Product Design graduates Nikki Ferguson and Andrew Knott both picked up prizes at the event, which is among the main showcases for graduates and young designers.
Nikki (22), from Glasgow, won the New Designers Virgin Atlantic Award for Product Design and the Customer Exeprience for her project, `The Heirloom', which helps people to form an emotional connection with objects and heirlooms passed down through the generations of their family, encouraging them to consider the life of their possessions beyond their own lifetime.
Judges said of her project, "'The Heirloom' manages to blend both the physical and the digital, the old and the new. Curating precious memories and articulating them through a beautifully executed piece of work."
Nikki's prize for winning includes a two-week work placement with Virgin Atlantic and two flights on Virgin Atlantic to New York.
"It was great to be at New Designers and to come away with a prize like this is fantastic," said Nikki. "Dundee students have a great track record of winning prizes at events like New Designers and I am delighted to have added to that."
Andrew (21), from Peebles, is looking forward to working in London for the next year after being granted use of the Designersblock studio and workspace for twelve months. He was named the winner of the Designersblock Associate Prize at New Designers, which also brings him exhibition space in London this year and Milan in 2013.
His project, Faber, enables designers, makers and craftspeople to exchange samples and ideas with clients.
"I am absolutely delighted to have won," said Andrew. "It is a huge boost for me having a studio space for the next twelve months and in the heart of London. It is also great to see a fellow Dundee student like Nikki winning another of the prizes."
Graduates from the Jewellery and Metal Design, Textile Design, Product Design and Digital Interaction Design programmes at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee, were all showing their work at New Designers.
Another Dundee student, Mairi Johnstone, was named last week as winner of the 2012 New Designers Goldsmiths' Company Jewellery Award, the UK's top award for young jewellery designers. It marked the fourth year in succession that a Dundee student had taken the award.
Exhibitions such as New Designers are visited by tens of thousands of people each year, including some of the important and influential figures in the design industry. This gives exhibitors the opportunity to develop contacts with trade professionals, potential employers and the media as well as having the chance to win awards, work placements and recognition.
For more information on Nikki's work see: www.nikkigeorgeferguson.com.
For more information on Andrew's work see: www.andrewknott.co.uk.
Notes to Editors
About Product Design at the University of Dundee;
Product Design at the University of Dundee has established an international reputation across industry, research and teaching. We believe that the evolution of existing and emergence of new technologies has profound implications for products, the people who use them and the cultures in which they are placed.
Our philosophy is simple, we aim to make products that work. Products that work:
- socially, through deep understanding of people and society.
- technically, through embedding cutting-edge technology into our products.
- economically, through working closely with global industries to ensure a market readiness and entrepreneurship at the highest level.
Our teaching informs and is informed by our research studio where we explore how digital technology can change the world - in the digital economy, through connected communities and by industrial sponsorship. Our sponsors include Microsoft Research, NCR, Novalia Ltd., and the Research Councils UK.
For media enquiries contact:
Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
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E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk
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