Category: News

West of England Design Forum Presents…

Huddle: An intimate evening of honest talk

Date: Wednesday 29th November 2023
Doors: 6:30 PM – 11:00PM
Talks: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: The Mount Without, BS2 8FN

You can buy tickets HERE.

Notes from the organisers:

The Idea

We’re stripping things back to basics – no stage, no screens, just real, honest talk. We’ll be talking to a group of inspiring creatives about the challenges they’ve faced and how they’re working to overcome them. How can we show up for our creative community and support each other through challenging times? Join us as we open up the conversation.

The Speakers

We’re happy to be joined in conversation by Dan Srokosz, Creative Director at AgencyUK, Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi, Founder of BCohCo, Joss Ford, Founder and Director of Enviral and Izzy Cross and Leon Patrick, Directors and Co-Founders of Noods Levels and Nood Radio.

The Social

We’ll be enjoying a few drinks from the Mount Without bar before and after the conversation, so we hope you’ll join us.

To find out more about WEDF visit:
www.wedesignforum.co.uk

We are excited to announce a series of upcoming FREE workshops hosted by En Masse, in partnership with Arts Council.

En Masse is a Bristol based multi venue electronic music festival that focuses on the contemporary sound of the city’s burgeoning underground scene. It is holding this year’s multi-venue programme from 15th-18th November.

They are hosting two separate workshops on Friday 17th November:

1. Tape Loop Workshop
2. An Illustration & Drawing Workshop with Turbo Island

Use the sign up forms above to reserve your spot!

Laura Rosser is an artist working with printed matter, error, ideas of the post-digital and machine agencies. Laura will run a performative COPY, COPY SHOP drop in exhibition at Bower Ashton, during the week of 30th October 2023 in the publishing space.

This is open to all students, staff and alumni. Come along, chat, have a coffee, do some photocopying, make a zine.

You can watch a video for CFPR’s summer of print and books festival 2022 where Laura Rosser discusses her work on The Agency of Error in Post-digital Print HERE.

Room 0C1 publishing space at Bower Ashton Campus, UWE Bristol, Kennel Lodge Road, Bristol, BS3 2JT. Open Tuesday 31st Oct – Thursday 2nd November 10.30 – 4.00.

https://laurarosser.com

Leading art book publisher Batsford presents The Batsford Prize 2024. Established a decade ago, the award is open for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying at a UK institution and is judged by industry professionals.

There are four categories to enter:

• Applied Art and Textiles
• Fine Art
• Illustration
• Children’s Illustration

The Prizes

There are over £4,500 worth of prizes to be won!

• £300 cash prize for the winner of each category.
• £300 cash prize for the overall winner across the categories.
• £100 worth of Batsford books for the winners and £300 worth of books for their college.
• £50 worth of books for two runners up in each category.
• All shortlisted candidates will be invited to exhibit their entires at the Batsford Gallery in May 2024.

The Theme

The theme for the Batsford Prize 2023 is ‘Gravity’. We are looking for entries that show innovative and well-crafted interpretations of the theme, in terms of subject or materials used, or a combination of the two. There is no restriction on the medium used, and we accept both entries that have been made as a part of coursework as well as personal work.

Deadline for entries: 25th March 2024
MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO ENTER

A message to students from Vaughan Grylls, Batsford Prize judge and chairman at Batsford:
‘Having the chance of exhibiting your work in a London gallery as shortlisted is reason enough to enter the Batsford Prize. But whether your work gets selected or not, it will be seen by our judging panel of professional artists and illustrators. That in itself is important, so do enter the Batsford Prize! Good luck!’

Previous Winners

We are proud to receive high-quality entries from students across the UK. The winners of the Batsford Prize 2023 were:

Alivia Hoy Fine Art, Loughborough University 
Pia Elliot BA (Hons) Textiles, Arts University Bournemouth
Megan Du Illustration and Visual Media, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London
Forest Xiao MA Children’s Book Illustration, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University
Ziyi Wang MA Fine Art Media, Slade School of Fine Art, University College London

‘Winning the Batsford Prize has been a major steppingstone in my newfound confidence of my design work. … It is my biggest creative achievement to date and an experience I will never forget!’ – Pia Elliot (Winner, Batsford Prize 2022, Applied Art & Textiles)

About Batsford

Batsford is an independent publisher established in 1843 and has since its early days been publishing books for art students, professionals and enthusiasts. Over the last 180 years, Batsford has developed an enviable reputation in the areas of textiles, design, art and fashion. 

‘Re:Build’ was a one day workshop led by designer Yasseen Faik and Level 5 graphic design students from the University of the West of England on Thursday, March 9th 2023.

The aim of the day was for the students to create posters to help raise awareness for the Turkey / Syrian earthquake disaster appeal. Led by Faik – and supported by UWE staff Gabriel Solomons and Marco Ugolini – students created an assortment of visual assets prompted by a series of exercises to develop quick responses – helping to aid their design process through an ‘ordered and disordered’ method. These visual elements were then paired with given text in the creation of the final posters.

This publication is an archive of the textures and assets made during the workshop. All the money raised from sales of this publication will be donated to the Turkish & Syrian earthquake disaster appeal.

Printed by PageMasters in London 2023 36 PP – 1 Colour Black Riso – 80 gsm inside with a 170 gsm cover.

Copies available from – https://www.yasseenfaik.xyz/shop

The South West Design + Digital Student Awards are now under 1 month away!

With a chance to win £3k in cash and a paid placement at our full-service agency, Proctor + Stevenson, this award is a fantastic opportunity for third-year students to get a leg up into a design career.

Just to reiterate:

• Students can enter as many projects as they like, as long as each project is uploaded in its own .zip file with its own cover letter
• The project can be university work or personal, as long as it falls into one of 3 categories: Graphic Design, Digital Design and/or Motion & AR
• This award is only open to third-year students in the final year of their course

You can visit our website, which has the full entry guidelines here: https://www.swddsawards.co.uk/

The deadline is Friday 9 June

On Tuesday 30^th May we will be launching this year’s 3^rd year end-of-year publication ‘An Irreversible Change of Form’ at The Cube Microplex (4 Princess Row, BS2 8NQ – just off Stokes Croft)

‘An Irreversible Change of Form’ is, in part, a reaction to the 50th anniversary of JG Ballard’s dystopian novel CRASH, and an exploration of destruction and rebirth through the lens of this year’s graduating cohort.

The event is free and open to all years + any guests you would like to invite – we would love to see as many faces there as possible! – free entry between 6-11pm, audio and visual installations and some explosive sculpture for good measure. Come grab your free copy of the publication, have a drink and celebrate the year of the year.

‘2023 marks the 50^th anniversary of the publication of JG Ballard’s controversial novel Crash. Revered for his dark portrayals of dystopian modernity, Crash was ‘received with a uniform howl of incomprehension’ by its critics. Exploring the merging points of technology, sexuality and consumerism Ballard looked into the darkest corners of a future accelerating at break-neck speed, but even amongst the carnage he managed to find glimmers of reinvention. Ballard stated that “Crash is above all a cautionary tale, a warning against the brutal, erotic and overlit future that beckons us, ever more powerfully.”

‘An Irreversible Change of Form’ became a reflection of the world around us, the experience of the last three years and the search for what’s to come. If reinvention and rebirth can be achieved on a micro-scale what new forms and what new utopias could be born from the rubble of something larger?’