University News Last updated 19 June 2018
BA (Hons) Textile Design students Hannah Whitehouse and Katie Turton were recently awarded prestigious travel scholarships at this year’s BCU Awards.
The annual awards provide final-year students with funding (or partial-funding) for a trip that will enhance their career prospects and practice. To apply, students needed to present their reasons for the award and shortlisted candidates were interviewed to decide which of them should be awarded the funds.
After completing a written application and presenting her work and travel intentions to the judges, Hannah Whitehouse (pictured above) received the Marion Mackey Drawing & Craftsmanship title and the George Jackson Award consisting of £1000. She plans to use the award to aid her work during her placement at Longina Phillips- a print design studio based in Sydney, Australia that specialises in drawing and designing floral prints, which is also where her own design interests lies (work pictured below). Whilst on her placement, Hannah will be responsible for assisting in the day-to-day running of the studio and hopes to gain a better knowledge of: how the design process works, knowledge of trends and how to use them to suit a particular market, see the process of an original idea evolving into a finished product, and become familiar with digital printing and how it works in a textile context.
When asked about how it felt to win the award, Hannah commented:
I would urge anyone entering their final year to consider what travelling they could do after they graduate. The award will help you fund an experience of any type and for any length of time, as long as it is relevant and worthwhile!”
Fellow course mate, Kate Turton echoed Hannah’s thoughts about winning a portion of the Louisa Anne Ryland Award and remarked how amazed and happy she was to find out that she had won £350 towards the cost of her trip to Belgium.
Katie’s caught the attention of the judges with her final project which aimed to raise awareness of plastic pollution within our oceans. She used digital embroidery and heat processed plastic in combination with one another to create unique embroidery pieces that suggested visions of future corals mutated by plastic, as well as the natural beauty of the unharmed corals.
Katie’s award will allow her to visit MoOd, a material and trend focused trade show in Brussels. Speaking about her plans for her time at the show, Katie added that she will be taking some of her design work to show to specific industry experts to help her gain some advice and opinions on how her designs could be used in a commercial context. She will also be visiting a materials showroom to help her understand how other innovative materials are being used.
BA (Hons) Textile Design staff were delighted to hear how well both students did in the awards and course leader Kate Farley commented how both these individuals have made things happen throughout their time with us on the course, proving they can create opportunities, hold their own in industry and have clear ideas about their goals.
See yourself as one of our globe-trotting Textiles graduates? Visit the course page to find out more. You can keep up-to-date with the latest happenings from the course at the BCU Textiles Instagram page.