News
Wednesday 28 November 2007
'Noble' success for Nottingham Trent University student
Ethan Bagshaw, studying a BA in Furniture and Product Design at Nottingham Trent University has been chosen as this year’s winner of the Noble Russell furniture design award 2007. Fellow design students Lisa Sandall and Anna Hadwick were also chosen as second and third prize winners.
The students have been working as part of their degrees to produce a design for bespoke furniture specialists Noble Russell, sponsors of the award for the second year. The winners receive £300, £200 and £100 respectively with a further offer to all entrants of a placement with Noble Russell.
The brief given to the students was to produce a design for contemporary outdoor furniture that was simple in style, practical in use and easy to manufacturer. The challenge was set to meet the escalating demand for outdoor furniture following the introduction of the smoking ban earlier this year. Students were asked to consider a broad criteria including: weather resistance; security; ease of use; comfort; cost and the environment within which the furniture would be placed as part of their design considerations.
Noble Russell’s Director, Laurence Noble comments: “Ethan’s design for a picnic table showed a very strong understanding of market needs, by creating a simple, stylish, cost effective and practical design for a contemporary picnic table that we believed would work well commercially.
“We are proud to sponsor an award for this highly regarded course that encourages students to have such a strong commercial awareness in their furniture design projects. We have been so impressed that we have offered student placements with our design business based in Uppingham, Leicestershire.”
Carl Harrison, Senior Lecturer in Product Design at Nottingham Trent University, says: “Competitions such as these are very important as they give our students the opportunity to further develop their skills on ‘live’ projects. The brief was challenging and we appreciate all the effort that Noble Russell has put in to ensure it was an extremely positive experience for all concerned.”
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For further information on Nottingham Trent University please contact Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on +44 (0)115 848 8782, or email dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk, or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on +44 (0)115 848 8774, or email therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.
