Always keeping an eye on young emerging talent, here at Bedeck we believe in supporting the next generation of young designers, so year on year we run various graduate placement programmes and awards showcasing the very best of local talent. Last week for the second year in a row, 1st and 2nd prizes were awarded to two final year students with the Bedeck ‘Emerging Textile Designer’ award in conjunction with the University of Ulster.
Judged by our Head of Design; Julie Hall and decided upon on two categories – Printed and Woven Textiles. Julie noted what criteria she looks for when judging the young designers; “At Bedeck we passionately believe in supporting design talent, the ‘Emerging Textile Designer’ award is given to the graduate designer who shows a wonderful creative flair for painting and drawing, the ability to create innovative design and illustrate with an inspiring sense of texture and colour.”
1st PRIZE WINNER
1st place winner was Emma Louise McKay for her printed textiles. Emma Louise took an illustrative approach to flowers in their natural form across various scales. Her collection ‘Avia’ was designed in honour of her grandparents and inspired by flowers that hold symbolic references and medicinal properties to cancer and alzheimer’s. Her research was carried out through photography, taking elements from different photos of flowers to create her colour palettes.
2nd place winner was Orla Phillips for her woven presentation, a designer with a detailed focus on colour who seeks out new palettes inspired by nature. With drawing and photography being the starting point for Orla’s work,
she takes an imaginative approach to exploring her environment and surroundings, resulting in a deconstruction and reconstruction of images and colour using traditional and digital techniques of weave and print. All her work is designed and hand woven for the interior space.
All final end of year work is on display at the University of Ulster.
