The 29th edition of New Designers held from 25-28 June and 2-5 July 2014, welcomed key parliamentary figures who met with designers from colleges in their constituencies, as well as with New Designers Award winners, other graduates and tutors.
New Designers was also visited by buyers, manufacturers, senior designers and talent spotters from major brands including: Arcadia, BBC, Debenhams, Dyson, Foster + Partners, Foyles, Habitat, Heal’s, Hemmingway, Jaguar Land Rover Design, Liberty, Made.com, Marks & Spencer, Nokia, Sainsbury’s and Sebastian Conran.
At two prestigious award evenings on Wednesday 25 June and 2 July, graduates were presented with awards and prizes by celebrated jewellery designer Alex Monroe and designer and campaigner Sir John Sorrell respectively. These awards included work placements and support from industry sponsors such as John Lewis, Wilko, The Goldsmiths’ Company, Hallmark, Procter & Gamble, Harlequin, Mars, Sanderson, Sky, Pentland, Weston Beamor and Tigerprint. The coveted Business Design Centre New Designer of the Year Award was won in Part 1 by Charlotte Beevor of Leeds College of Art, for her vibrant ‘Expressionist Colour’ printed textile and surface pattern designs, and in Part 2 by typographer Eric Downer of the University of Portsmouth, for his pylon-inspired presentation piece ‘Everything About One Thing’.
For the first time, New Designers hosted two Creative Saturdays in partnership with The Sorrell Foundation, which offered children and young people their first taste of the professional design world through a series of creative and making workshops.
For two Thursday Late events, New Designers partnered with Absolut, who hosted their popular Absolut Art Talk, and the Design Council, who celebrated the announcement of their 2014 ‘Future Pioneers Discovered at New Designers’.
The 30th edition of New Designers will take place at the Business Design Centre from 24-27 June and 1-4 July 2015.
