20 September 2012

Guild success for graduate trio

Graduates of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) have won all three Gold Memberships offered by the Guild of Jewellery Designers (GoJD) this year as a reward for excellent work.

Mairi Burrow, Sally Anne Fenton and Scarlett Erskine all graduated from the Jewellery & Metal Design programme at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee, earlier this year. They went on to exhibit at the prestigious New Designers exhibition in London alongside other talented young jewellery makers from around the UK.

Judges from the Guild were among the thousands of influential visitors to New Designers and, after viewing exhibits from hundreds of jewellery graduates, decided to make the award to the DJCAD trio.

Gold membership entitles the graduates to a range of benefits including Designer Directory listing with the Guild, Products and Public Liability Insurance up to £5million, discounts on supplies, services, and exhibition space, and promotion on the GofJD website.

To qualify for this award, the designers had to prove that they had not only possessed exceptional creativity and the ability to bring their ideas to fruition as highly wearable jewellery, but had also developed a professional business model and were keen to market themselves and their work.

Jewellery & Metal Design course director Teena Ramsay congratulated the trio on their achievement, saying, "Mairi, Sally Anne and Scarlett are all exceptionally talented jewellery designers and fully deserve their Gold Membership to the Guild.

"What's more, they have also displayed a flair for marketing and business that is essential for graduates seeking to make their mark on the world and this is something we impress upon our students. Hopefully their success will help to encourage the current crop of students that the skill set they must posses goes beyond their design talent."

Mairi's work is soon to be sold through her website as well as an online gallery and is currently being exhibited in a UK gallery. At present she is working on a new collection and has plans to expand the range of outlets that stock her work.

Sally Anne is currently developing a more commercial collection to run alongside her bespoke service which she offers through her website and Facebook page at present. Her work is soon to be sold through two UK retail outlets and a gallery.

Scarlett plans to set up her own jewellery brand 'Scarlett Erskine Jewellery' and is currently making collections for three galleries. Over the next year she aims to build on her current business by expanding her website to incorporate an ecommerce element and create new collections of jewellery.

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