Talented Northumbria University students won nine of the 29 ‘Ones to Watch’ awards available at this year’s D&AD New Blood exhibition in London.
The nine students, from Media and Communication Design courses at Northumbria University, including animation, graphic design, advertising and interactive media design, were recognised for their modern and creative projects from more than 900 exhibiting students. The annual event, held at Truman Brewery in London, from 6 July to 9 July 2016, aims to stimulate, enable and award creative excellence in design and advertising.
This year’s D&AD New Blood show exhibited the wide range of Northumbria University’s creative talent within the design field, with animation projects centred on social stigma, interactive media designs aimed at helping those less able and multi-platform applications designed for international corporations.
Eleanor Pike was one of the nine award-winning students whose creative talent was recognised with a ‘pencil award’. As an animation student at Northumbria University, her ‘Commonplace’ project was recognised by D&AD in May, prior to the New Blood event. By exploring three of the seven archetypes through the medium of photography, Eleanor has portrayed the social chasm that exists between the homeless and affluent, the effect of long-distance relationships on families and the isolation of depression.
George Grange’s ‘HomeLink’ project, designed to provide assistance to those less able to complete simple physical tasks, is one of nine Northumbria University student projects recognised as ‘Ones to Watch’ at this year D&AD New Blood exhibition. By using simple NFC technology (found in bank cards) and RIFD readers, he has developed a practical and affordable system that can be built into pre-existing furniture, removing the need for those with learning difficulties or suffering from dementia to learn new tasks.
Interactive Media Design students Liam Dexter and Becky Lee have also been awarded a ‘Ones to Watch’ accreditation this year. Their ‘Virgin Empire’ game has been praised as an engaging, educational and entertaining bank platform for children. Created in response to a live brief from Virgin Money, the project is catered to youths with multi-platform application and the possibility of creating one’s own Virgin Empire.
Final year branding student Jordan Robertson was chosen by Design Week as one of the top five students on display atD&AD New Blood this year for his bold cosmetics brand concept, centred on inclusion and the ideal of creating “an honest idea of beauty for everybody.” His work has also been recognised by international publication, Design Week, as one of the top five students exhibiting at the show.
Branding students continued the awards trend with Benas Skirpka winning a pencil award for his project which used reflective materials in the realisation of his gender neutral cosmetic range. Neesha Mistry, was also on the award list was has her ‘equals’ packaging in response to a similar brief. Hannah Fawcett has also won an international competition brief set by international branding agency JKR, which consists on a cash prize and a placement with the firm. Fellow final year branding student Megan Yap took home the second place at a competition organised by brand agency Brandopus, which also includes a placement with the company.
Further information regarding Northumbria University at D&AD New Blood can be found here: D&AD New Blood