Third year textile students from Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, Birmingham City University, have once again impressed visitors to the Interiors UK show. Their work, an exploration of two trends, 'Clash' and 'Flint' was a partnership with Interiors & Lifestyle Future companies: Brintons, Glassdomain, mrf design, Phoenix Tile Studio and Plant & Moss. The stand in the Design Village Hall 2 was also a collaboration with trends prediction company GlobalColor Research™ Mix Publications and Tektura Wall Coverings.
Charmaine Stint and Jo Birch from Birmingham City University's Research Innovation and Enterprise department spearheaded the project working with the companies, BIAD students and staff (Jean Ensell, John Hall and Marlene Little among others).
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| Showcasing the Flint trend on the BCU stand |
Thanks to Jo and Charmaine and the BCU PR & Communications team for the following report and congratulations to award-winning students Santa
Liepina, Zoe Watson and Faith Wray. You can also check out Zoe's blog for her experience of the show.
Textile students design
trends wow guests at national expo
The work
of three textile students from Birmingham City University has been praised at a
national exhibition this week.The
budding designers were amongst 60 BIAD students showcasing their own innovative
design trends at the annual INTERIORS
UK 2013 exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham.
The
collections featured a range of concepts and included a sneak preview of how
our homes may look next winter. The designs were based around inspiration for
walls, floors and furniture and were created around two key trends – ‘flint’
and ‘clash’ identified by international trend experts Global Color Research™
Mix Publications.
Working
in partnership with a number of key interiors manufacturers - including Tektura
and Brintons Carpets – the stand highlighted 20 new designs. Joanna Birch, Head
of External Development at Birmingham City University, said: “The industry
collaborations highlight the practical applications of the student’s work,
highlighting the benefits of student collaboration with industry partners
interested in exploring innovative concepts.
“Integrating
student design teams in the real world of business is an imbedded element of
the way Birmingham City University works – Our Trends showcase often makes
interior designers and manufacturers realise the power of students to stimulate
their product innovation.”
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| Part of the Clash trend room set |
The
annual showcase of new student talent has launched a number of award-winning
designers in previous years and this year’s show didn’t disappoint.
Zoe
Watson, BA Textile Print student, was awarded most innovative wall cover by
Tektura – voted for by visitors to the exhibition. Zoe’s design was based on
her personal prediction of the ‘clash’ trend, taking inspiration from encaustic
tiles, mosaics and interior Victoriana elements.
Throughout
her time at University, Zoe has worked closely alongside Global Color Research
which has enabled her to experience the future trends for herself. Zoe was
thrilled to receive the award and believes the project has been extremely
beneficial for her future career plans. She said: “The interiors UK exhibition
has helped me to thoroughly focus my aim for my future career into textiles for
interiors, as well as help me gain experience and much needed exposure in my
chosen field of interest.”
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| Wall-cover winner Zoe Watson (centre) & Tektura's Jo Cain (right) & Julie Mason |
“I aim to
be a self-employed designer, specialising in textiles for interior products and
spaces. I am hoping to finish my textile design degree with a strong focused
portfolio which will help me to achieve this once I have graduated.”
Zoe’s
winning wallpaper design will be showcased on Tektura’s website and will be
available to purchase for interested clients.
Faith
Wray, final year student on the BA Textile Embroidery course, was announced as
the winner of the Flint trend category by Global Color for her ceramic bead and
embroidery element. The inspiration for her design came from pre-cambrian rock
and stone carvings found in her hometown in Malvern. Wanting to accurately
capture the trend and create texture within her design, all elements were made
entirely by hand.
She said:
“I was over the moon to receive the award and feel extremely privileged to be
recognised by Global Color. This Trends project has been my favourite of all of
those I have worked on during my time at University - I feel like the project
was made for me.”
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| Faith Wray (right) Flint category winner with Hannah Malein from GlobalColor Research™ |
Faith
hopes to continue to develop her handcrafted techniques in ceramics and
embroidery and hopes to work on more interiors projects in the future.
The final
award of the event went to BA Textile Print student, Santa Liepina, who was
awarded winner of the Clash trend category for her lampshade featuring a lively
geometric design. Santa was inspired by the interaction between colour, shape
and light, combining abstract and geometric with realistic motifs.
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| Santa Liepina & her award winning Clash trend lampshade with Hannah Malein |
“‘Clash’ is one of my favourite projects so far because of its brilliant colour
palette and the challenge to create the right mood for the design. I would like
to say a big thank you to my tutor and professionals from Global Color who were
able to see and appreciate my passion.”
