Hello. New Designers ‘22
What is New Designers
Last week saw New Designers - the “Leading London Graduate Show” which has been championing the future of design since 1885. This is the first time since 2019 that it has been held in person due to Covid which meant there was even higher expectations than normal.
2022 was the 38th anniversary of the show which saw +200 flagship design courses come together to present the country’s finest up and coming design talent. Aetha visited Week 2 on Wednesday 6th July.
On the Wednesday we felt the atmosphere was really good. There was a buzz in the whole place. Students seemed keen to present their projects and talk about what they had been working on whilst at Uni. With so much of New Designers being focused on their final year projects - our team kept trying to tell the students exhibiting that we want to hear about you, your abilities, not just your project.
We believe there is a gap between what Universities are telling students to present at this sort of exhibition to potential industry employers and what the Industry actually need to hear about a new designers capabilities and anticipations about their first steps into a role in the design industry.
We asked the designers who headed up to London for the day to look beyond the awards and highlight a number of New Designers that might have been missed or that we thought stood out. During the event awards are given out during by the likes of; John Lewis, LEGO and Joseph Joseph. The students who win those awards will get posted about by everyone and normally either receive a placement and/or cash sum prize so we thought instead of blowing their trumpets too we would highlight some of the other students we thought were interesting and ones to watch in the future.
So below is a quick summary of some notable mentions from 2022.
A fidget set for Autistic and ADHD children within mainstream primary schools with the aim to relax to focus.
Jas went to Nottingham Trent Uni.
BA (Hons) Furniture & Product Design (undergraduate)
Jasbir Suri (photo cred. Jasbir)
Jasbir Suri with her stand at New Designers (photo cred. Jasbir)
We asked Jasbir what she thought of her experience at New Designers and how useful she found it as a new designer just starting her career. “New designers was an eye opening experience. It gave me opportunities to connect with industry and explore the creative economy.”
Jasbir continued when we asked about who she spoke to and whether there were any job prospects from the exhibition.
“I thought it was great. I think every day was different as you get approached by a wide range of people from industry, public and students from schools. I got approached by a few companies to apply for jobs which would be great for me due to the product i did which was fantastic. I think it was overwhelming at the beginning as i didn't know what to expect but it was the best thing to communicate with designers and getting ideas of what i would want to do next.”
A portable rope cutter for climbers - Joshua is from Bournemouth University
Bsc Product Design
Joshua Doherty (photo cred. Joshua)
Joshua Doherty with his stand at New Designers (photo cred. Joshua)
We asked Joshua how he found New Designers and what’s next for him. "New Designers was a fantastic way to end my time at University. It was great having so many people interested in my project after investing so much time into it. I am very proud of all of us at Bournemouth University and how well we have done this year at the show.“
We know we may be seen as biased at Bournemouth is our local University but we have heard from several who attended that they really felt Bournemouth University had exhibited really well this year and that the standard presented by the BU students was some of the best in show which was really great to hear considering our links to the Uni and that Tom is ex Bournemouth.
An entry-level bicycle fitting kit with a gripping end of life.
Ross is from Edinburgh Napier University
Bachelors Degree - Product Design
Wrapt Ross Campbell - (photo cred. Ross)
Ross Campbell on his stand at New Designers 2022 (photo cred. Ross)
We all cycle in the Aetha studio either on commuter bikes or on road, gravel + mountain bikes so Wrapt got our attention straight away as a really well thought out product and project overall.
When we asked Ross about his experience of New Designers he said “I felt that ND22 was a great opportunity to allow feedback from industry professionals and the general public; the raw face to face discussions and interactions with like minded individuals was what I found most valuable.”
Labour Tens machine. A infographic contraction tracker that lets you know the correct time to leave for the hospital. Tens as a whole experience to guide you through pregnancy rather than just an after thought during labour.
Anna went to Nottingham Trent University.
Product Design & Industrial Design.
Anna Ward - Bloom (photo cred. Anna)
We spoke to Anna before, during and after the event about her experience and were glad to hear she got one job offer actually at the event but the job meant relocating too far away (100’s of miles) so she declined but great none the less. We have been told a number of students have been offered jobs or asked to apply for job postings since exhibiting at New Designers which is great to hear. We know our friends at Studio Wood (also in Bournemouth) and Ooni pizza ovens were on the hunt for new talent last week.
Anna sent us this photo to highlight the split of male/female designers put forward by her University.
To note, Nottingham Trent University took 18 male and 14 female students to New Designers - we felt this was the most equal split amongst male/female designers showcased at New Designers. Well done Nottingham Trent
We asked Anna how she got on at New Designers “I felt that ND22 was a great opportunity to allow feedback from industry professionals and the general public; the raw face to face discussions and interactions with like minded individuals was what I found most valuable.”
So things for New Designers to work on for future years:
We still think there is a long way to come for this sort of event in terms of equality. We still find it a shocking that some Universities ask their students to pay to exhibit/or fundraise for the University to have a stand. Considering the cost of student course fees in 2022 - to ask a student to represent your University and then pay to showcase the Universities standards is really conflicting.
With the increase in fees over the years - Universities we ask you to dig deep and either put some course funds aside for a stand or offer a scholarship to students in terms of accommodation/expenses whilst up in London.
Photo cred. Julien Hughes New Designers 2022 Julian Hughes 2022
We have even heard of some Universities asking students to contribute to the “free bar” which is put on for industry professionals during the event. This nearly made me sick. Why should a student pay for our team to have a beer at the event. We have jobs - let us pay. I beg Uni’s and New Designers to either get better drinks sponsors or keep it non alcoholic (loads of new non alcoholic beer brands would have loved to have been at New Designers this year) Don’t ask students who have no money and lots of debt to pay for professionals to drink.
We know the above are true as we have have 2 students in our studio currently (one being Tom who co-owns Aetha) who couldn’t afford to go so even though they were selected as they simply couldn’t afford the accommodation costs and food costs of the week in London after just graduating.
We heard more Universities paid this year for their students which we were glad to hear. We would be interested to hear if Universities would be asked to re-look at this in future years and potentially have assisted accommodation/stand space for students who don’t have the personal funds to attend themselves as it would be a shame to keep these barriers up - see our friends over at The Design Truth talking about this in more detail.
New Designers 2022 - Photo cred. Julien Hughes
There were some other students who had some great products including Jasmine Nicholson (MYMO) exhibiting the first truly circular mattress. We tried to get hold of Jasmine for details of her project but alas we can’t track her down. If you know Jasmine get her to email us at hello@aethadesign.com and we will add her to this blog.
Congratulations to all those who stood in the heat during the event. It’s not easy but it’s a great event to speak with industry and we thought you were all great. Thanks to Anna, Ross, Joshua and Jasbir for your contributions and Julien Hughes for the photos which you provided to Anna.