Girl Power

Well it's nice that so far that two of our guest speakers have been past graduates and that they are both girls. It seems a lot like the girls who graduate each year are at the top of the class, getting the best grades and making exciting work - but why are there so few successful and established women designers in the industry? Hopefully, people like Libby Scarlett and Nicola Rowlands are setting new trends and opening new doors to show that the women are just as talented as the men out there!

Libby Scarlett:

I remember admiring Libby's work last year before I knew who she was - her style is very appealing to me. I like the conceptual basis of all her work and the quite simple minimalist finish which is so clean and clear. I like how she works across so many media - it is about what best conveys the idea.

My favourite bit about Libby's work is her ability to contextualise but also to find interesting ways of document everyday things in a creative way. I hope that I can take a leaf out of Libby's book and always go the extra mile to really express everything... Like she said in the lecture, I also really enjoy the Journal and essay side of the syllabus and I am going to make sure I try to use my strengths in order to make these something more and an important link with my practical work.

A creative piece to go with her essay_

Nicola Rowlands:

Her work is very different from my own style but I do like the hand drawn natural quality to it. I especially liked the way she uses words I think she has quite a unique style in doing this!

My favourite piece of her work was this illustrated map she made for someone at the BBC. I like it because it doesn't look like something the BBC would produce and its fresh. Some information can be so boring and necessary and I think she's done a good job of turning it into something useful and interesting. I have been looking at a lot of mind maps and ways to map and illustrate my thoughts and journeys - all the things that feel really significant but are somehow very hard to express!

One last point to make is how comforting it is to talk to people who have survived graduation and the transition into real life. For most of second year a huge part of me was petrified of third year. My whole life has been education and the thought of the next step and actually putting everything you've learnt into practice is a daunting prospect! I have started to calm down for a number of reasons, and hearing from people just a year a head of us is a big big help!