Each year Domino is proud to sponsor a competition for HND students of the School of Jewellery (part of Birmingham City University). This year the competition objectives were to provide an awareness of commercial products available within the industry and to demonstrate innovative thinking and creativity within the design process.
Each student was marked on their creative use of design, their technical competence, their presentation skills, and also their commercial awareness. The winners were announced during the Spring Fair 2008.
1st prize went to Christopher Hay who created a beautiful yet unusual ring. He said of his design: “The original concept was taken from contemporary furniture design and the chosen design acquired its name – ‘Infinite’ – from the form it takes – a band of gold that has no start and no finish. I wanted to create a timeless trend combining quality and functionality with the aesthetic of the classical form.”
2nd prize was awarded to Greta Chiu for her flower like ring, taking inspiration from the Lotus flower: “I was inspired by the Lotus flower. This project has been an inspiring journey to create many possibilities from this flower form. The Lotus range has a sense of fun and movement with subtle changes to make pieces of jewellery which I hope will have a special place in the eye of the beholder.”
The 3rd prize went to Rebecca Tucker for her stunning brooch, which was inspired by her own logo featuring feathers. She also included some unusual and attractive stones in the design.
Paul McElwee, Domino’s Business Development Director, said of the competition: “The quality of designs from the students of the School of Jewellery gets better each year and this year was the best we have ever seen.
We were impressed with the content of students’ portfolios and their professional presentation skills, clearly all of them had put a lot of hard work into their designs. We look forward to welcoming all of the winners for work experience.”
Gaynor Andrews, Course Director for HND Jewellery & Silversmithing, added; “I would like to thank Domino for this excellent opportunity.
The students have expressed very positive comments on being involved in a ‘live’ competition and the challenge of designing within a commercial context. The group was very well focussed on the task and the resulting outcomes were of a professional standard.
This experience forms an important part of their education and adds another dimension to the HND Jewellery & Silversmithing course.
The proposed top-up degree course, currently being developed at the School of Jewellery as a progression route for the HND students, is concerned with designing for industry and this competition is an ideal taster for this additional year.”
All three winners were awarded with the opportunity of work experience with Domino as well as cash prizes.
