Melissa
Gandhi

What made you choose to study at NTU?"The excellent reputation of the Graphic Design course and also Nottingham as a city, it's the perfect size!"

What do you enjoy most about Graphic Design?"I enjoy the opportunity to try out loads of different materials and having access to traditional printing resources."

Has the course included any industry competitions?"Recently I entered a competition with YCN (valuable creative connections) to redesign the 150th anniversary cover of Alice in Wonderland for the publisher Pan Macmillan. It's interesting to work on externally set briefs as it feels far more true to the industry than internally set briefs. I particularly enjoyed this one as I had the opportunity to experiment with lino printing and came up with a final result that I'm really proud of."

Can you tell us a little bit about your study trip to New York?"I really enjoyed the studio visit to the Society of Illustrators, it was interesting to see commercial illustration work through the ages and it gave me some ideas of new techniques to try out in the studio. Besides the various studio visits our itinerary was pretty jam packed! We visited Grand Central Station, Central Park and the Top of the Rock at the Rockerfeller Center.

"The highlight of the trip has to be visiting Long Island. We heard that the view of the city was supposed to be spectacular and we were not disappointed! It was magical to see the skyline from the other side of the Hudson River as the sun set.

"I'd recommend study trips like this to other students because it's a brilliant opportunity to explore somewhere you might not normally have access to with other design students who share your interests."

What do you like about studying and living in Nottingham?"I love the buzz of the city and how there's always something going on. The architecture here is also beautiful."

Why would you recommend Graphic Design to someone looking to study in this area?"Nottingham has a perfect mix of culture and art heritage, and NTU is at the heart of it. The Graphic Design course is brilliant because you have the opportunity to experiment with design, layout, illustration and animation. This means you don't have to choose your area of specialism immediately and this is something which has proved to be invaluable for me."