The NTU Degree shows for the school of Art & Design are currently on display around the university campus. From Graphics to Interior and Spacial Design, the shows encompass the many aspects of the school.
Earlier this week, I attended the degree summer show for my course, Fashion Communication and Promotion. This consisted of 120 self-devised projects full of big ideas, portfolios of future-facing visual communication for fashion and lifestyle and 40 problem-solving responses to live client briefs. These brands included Anya Hindmarch, Boots, Levi Strauss & Co, Speedo and Stack Magazine.
As a first year student, this public exhibition of creativity and inspiration provided me an invaluable insight into the standard I’ll need to be working at for third year. The building that I had grown so accustomed to seeing after all these months now looked almost unrecognisable being filled with displays and advertising.
This year the show was called hi.vis and portrayed the colour palette of blue and red throughout all of the rooms. I believe coloured acetate and plastic had been used to create the visuals. One of my tutors kindly pointed out a couple of higher achieving students and the ones that had made the most progress throughout the year. I was really quite impressed with the quality of the works on display!
The final, self-devised projects are an opportunity for students to show self-expression through visual and written media. Subject areas included themes such as a space maximisation, looking into how sustainable living can improve life quality and I even saw someone had made a tiny recipe book with a least 50 recipes in. The chosen themes don’t have to have a direct correlation to the fashion industry, which helps to provide a wide range of pieces that cover a multitude of interests.
I spent time there flicking through the glossy pages of their dissertations. I stood in both in awe and amazement at the amount of detail and research that had gone into some of those works, as well as the presentation and layout – they looked professional. I don’t know whether to be more excited or panicked to think that I’ll soon be working on my own dissertation and project!
I feel that FCP dissertations are a great contrast to the usual spiral bound word document that is handed in on many courses. The written content is equally as important as the visuals; the dissertations closely resembled industry standard magazines, helping to visually convey each project’s ideas and aesthetics. I loved seeing that everyone had their own individual styles, presentations and ideas which showed me that any idea is a valid one.
It was so inspiring to look round the display that had been carefully put together, showcasing the new generation of creative talent. The show itself has been designed and executed entirely by the course committee; this complete creative freedom made for a perfectly on trend show, presenting each individuals work to the best of its potential. I appreciate the time and effort that went into making the degree show possible and looking the way it did. Each student challenged a culture of desire, generating new ideas of consequence. They were all telling innovative lifestyle stories and narratives through their choice of media. Although walking round made me apprehensive about third year and a little overwhelmed about the standard and amount of work as I always doubt myself, however I enjoyed gaining an insight into the approaching years on my degree.
Rachel
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