Showcase 2026 Student Spotlight: Tilly Mason
Student Spotlight featuring BA (Hons) Product Design student Tilly Mason and her project 'Rage Confessional Booth'.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 14 April 2026
Categories: Student Showcase; School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment;
The Project
Tilly Mason's Rage Confessional Booth is a novel interactive space for women to express themselves freely - with an aesthetic inspired by the early 1990s underground feminist punk movement Riot Grrrl.
The inspiration behind the project
Tilly explains that the concept for the project came through her interest in censorship in the media. "I started noticing how often feminist voices get pushed aside or filtered out. People always say social media gives everyone a voice, but the more I looked into it, the more I realised how much algorithms actually control what we see. They decide what gets pushed and what gets hidden, so I found that a lot of important stories, especially about politics and women’s experiences, just don’t get attention."
"In contrast, I then looked at the Riot Grrrl movement, which felt like the complete opposite of that. Women were making their own zines that were messy, loud, and unpolished, and they didn’t care about fitting into this idea of 'perfect' or aesthetic feminism. It was all about honesty and expression, and that became a big influence for me within this project."
The Rage Confessional Booth, as Tilly describes it, is "basically a space where women can go in and just let everything out, whether its to shout, vent, say things they wouldn’t normally feel able to say freely."
She says: "It’s also meant to be quite intense for anyone experiencing it. The visuals, audio, and overall feel are very confrontational, so it’s hard to ignore. It almost throws the issues right in your face. I wanted it to make people feel something, even if that’s discomfort, because unfortunately, ,most of the time that’s what actually gets people to stop and listen.
"It’s interactive as well, with recordings and playback, so the voices don’t just disappear, they build up and become part of the experience for the next person. There’s also a donation scheme linked to ActionAid, which supports women and girls facing poverty, so it connects the experience to something real outside of the booth. When participants leave the booth, they have the option to take a zine, which educates them further on the matter, and again, these will be uncensored and evoke emotions that would otherwise be censored."
Tilly conceives her booth as a place for women to freely express themselves. Image by Tilly Mason.
The project experience
Tilly admits that it was nerve-racking starting the project because the focus was on a conceptual design rather than a physical product.
"It pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I wasn’t fully sure how it would develop. However, I committed to the idea and allowed myself to explore it fully, and over time I began to really enjoy the process. It has been one of the most rewarding projects I've worked on, and it's shown me how important it is to create something you genuinely care about. When you're passionate about your work, the whole experience becomes far more engaging and meaningful."
The design was partly inspired by the Riot Grrrl movement. Image by Till Mason.
Being part of NTU
When it comes to her time as a student at NTU studying BA (Hons) Product Design, Tilly says the experience has changed her a lot.
"I've become a way more confident person," she reflects, "both in myself and in my work. And I feel way more comfortable sharing my ideas and taking creative risks. I've also discovered what I care about most of all within design, which is using it to highlight political issues and things happening in the world, rather than just staying passive. Overall, it’s helped me find my voice as a designer and trust it a lot more."
Closing remarks
Tilly offers these words of advice to potential future students of Product Design:
"'I’d say 100% the most important thing is to make sure you genuinely enjoy what you’re working on. When you’re passionate about your ideas, everything becomes so much more exciting and rewarding, and it really shows in the final outcome. Don’t be afraid to experiment, take risks, and try things that feel a bit different, as that’s often where the most interesting work comes from. It can be challenging at times, but if you care about what you’re creating, you’ll stay motivated and get so much more out of the course. Overall, just trust your ideas and enjoy the process as much as you can."
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