Illustration students brighten up Lincoln

During the summer, students from our BA (Hons) Illustration programme returned to Lincoln to brighten up a   walkway and cycle path along the river Witham which leads directly into the Brayford Pool.  Using their artistic skills they have completely transformed a city warehouse with their illustrative graffiti.

The students had long been looking for an area in the city to try out their street art legally and approached owners of the warehouse, William Sinclair Ltd, a local company specialising in commercial and domestic horticultural products.

The project got underway when the students asked local residents what they would like to see painted on the warehouse before initial sketches were even put to paper.

Illustration student and skateboarder Myles Hamilton was part of the project. [Picture: Anna Draper, courtesy of the Lincolnshire Echo newspaper].

Student Alison Rattigan told the Lincolshire Echo "We have wanted a space to practice our skills for a long time.  We asked Sinclairs if we could do anything on their property and they went away and thought about it before coming back and saying yes...We have never worked on this scale before so it was a challenge and an experience but we are delighted with how things have turned out".  In fact Sinclairs supplied all the art materials.

Although this was not a brief set by tutors from the Illustration programme, they were keen to try their art on this scale and to challenge the somewhat negative attitude shown towards graffiti.  Local response has been very positive, and I for one appreciate the improvement to the area as I cycle home along the pathway. Here are some of the images I took on my way to the University this morning.

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Degree Celebration for Class of 2012

Yesterday saw the graduation of the Class of 2012 for students from the School of Art and Design.  As always seems to happen during Graduation week, the sun was shining brightly throughout the day.

Above image shows Fine Art students celebrating in the castle grounds following the ceremony in the Cathedral.  From left to right: Leanne Robinson, Rose Mower, Laura Johnson, Sarah Jane Barnett, and Nealie Harding.

We are so lucky to be able to hold our graduation ceremonies at Lincoln Cathedral, which must surely be one of the best graduation venues ever.  Students were emotional as they waited to shake hands with the Vice Chancellor Mary Stuart, and walk across the stage infront of a packed Cathedral.

Professors and Lecturers make their way into the Cathedral at the start of the graduation proceedings.

Fine Art student Kim Woodard was chosen to give the speech during the ceremony on behalf of all the graduating students.  Below Kim is pictured getting ready in the Cathedral centre before the ceremony began.

Graduates meeting their friends and family outside Lincoln Cathedral immediately following the graduation ceremony.

Celebrations followed in the beautiful grounds of Lincoln castle.  Here's just a snapshot of some of yesterday's graduates.

Hats on!

Hats off!

Graphic Design graduates talk about life in the world of design

Meera Mistry has always shown a creative streak and following her recent graduation from BA (Hons) Graphic Design, she is now tackling the design industry head-on, gaining agency experience in her pursuit of a career in app & tablet design and video/ social marketing.

“My passion for the arts, design and media motivated my secondary education choices, and I continued with BTEC Foundation Studies in Art & Design followed by a BA (Hons) degree in Graphic Design at the University ofLincoln, which saw my work recognised by the International Society of Typographic Designers (pass) and the RSA (shortlisted) assessments, and the opportunity to exhibit my work at D&AD New Blood 2008.

“Knowing that professional experience would promote learning, development as a designer, awareness of and exposure to the reality of the design industry, my summer vacations during university and upon graduation were busy: I pro-actively knocked on studio doors for opportunities and sent out handmade self-promotion goodies to kick-start conversation. Travelling to various design agencies across the country for internships encouraged me to take new challenges and step out of my comfort zones.

“My work has therefore been wide-ranging since my position at Alight Digital Design Agency working on name and brand identity for new companies; brand guidelines; graphic design; digital strategy; web design (including User Experience and User Interface) for showcase; E-commerce; CMS and portfolio websites across small to large clients. I am currently freelancing print, web and personal projects, as well as self-training in video and animation production.

“I take inspiration from many sources when generating ideas and designing: random conversations with friends and family; society; moaning; photos; quirky social events; films; fashion; food packaging; music; media; personal experiences. In short, the more random and wittier, the better!  As for the present, I am continuing to explore new areas in graphic and web, gaining broader agency experience and working towards a future in app/tablet design, video and social marketing.”

Fellow Graphic Design graduate Dan Haigh had this to say about his experience on Graphic Design at Lincoln: “At Lincoln I learnt to broaden my horizons and focus more on the concept behind a piece of work rather than just producing work that will look good and sell stuff.  Having just finished University, I needed a new challenge, some new/different experiences and have managed to get a job in China to broaden my horizons.

"Having rekindled my love for drawing on a recent project, drawing famous musicians, now I can’t put my sketch book down! I’m interested, and can work within all areas of design. I’ve used my education to work in different aspects of design to not pigeon-hole myself.”

Magnificent medieval stained glass back at Coventry Cathedral

Thousands of fragments of medieval stained glass which survived the bombing of Coventry Cathedral during the Second World War go today on public view for the first time in more than 70 years next week.

The Old Cathedral of St Michael at Coventry was bombed almost to destruction on 14 November 1940 and its ruins now sit alongside the city's modern cathedral. However, the historic building's magnificent stained glass survived the Blitz, having been removed and placed in storage in 1939. The glass has not been seen by the public since.

Now specialists from the University's renowned conservation consultancy division, Crick Smith, are working with World Monuments Fund Britain and Coventry Cathedral to restore and put back on public display the surviving pieces, which represent Britain’s largest collection of loose medieval stained glass.

The project involves cleaning and repairing an estimated 5,000 fragments of stained glass, many of which have degraded over time in storage. Some of the glass is by 15th century Coventry-based stained glass artist John Thornton, while other pieces date between the 15th and 19th centuries.

The meticulous work will be carried out by a team of experienced conservators from Crick Smith, joined by current students and graduates from our Conservation and Restoration programmes, in full view of the public in Coventry's Herbert Art Galleryand Museum. The project runs from 6 August 2012 to 31 October 2012, with another two months' work scheduled next summer.

The team will be working with stained glass historian Heather Gilderdale-Scott to identify and date the fragments, as well as building a database to record informatinn about the origin, condition and historical significance of the pieces, including photographs.

Ian Crick-Smith, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Lincolnand co-founder of Crick Smith, said: "For the first time the glass will be available for public viewing and for further research and study. When in the cathedral, the glass was predominantly at clerestory level or high within the east end apse. It was therefore not easily viewable. In the future the glass will be displayed in a way which will allow the public to view it closely.

"The centre of Coventryhas some very important historic buildings, yet it is often overlooked as a historic centre. The conservation of the stained glass and its prominence as a collection of historic artefacts will act as a focus for the rediscovery of historic Coventryand the regeneration of the historic quarter."

Dr Jonathan Foyle, CEO of World Monuments Fund Britain, and Honorary Doctor of the University said: "We are looking forward to an involving and fascinating project. Crick Smith were prepared to set up their stall in the centre of Coventryrather than remove the glass to a remote workshop. This public-faced conservation work is ideal, as it allows the citizens of Coventry and visitors to see the glass where it belongs, and share the discoveries. The access will encourage many to reflect anew on a rich historic environment that rewards curiosity and deserves investment."

Above image shows Prof Jonathan Foyle in the blue suit and World Monuments Fund Project Manager, Melissa Marshall to the right on the back row.

Back Row:
MA student Gemma Smart, Prof JF (WMF), York MA graduate Fran Scargill, Melissa Marshall (WMF)

Front Row:
MA Graduate Kelly Orange, MA student Josh Klieve, Graduate Diploma student Jean Lambe, BA 1st Yr student volunteer Laura Fox

To watch a short film by Prof. Jonathan Foyle talking about the project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_gapmUix20&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Young Creative Chevrolet Winner

Having won 1st Prize in the UK round, Contemporary Lens Media final year student Kenny van Mierlo is now representing the University with a 2nd place win in the video category of the overall European finals of this year's Young Creative Chevrolet competition! He will receive his prize in Los Angeles later this year.

The top-three European YCC 2012 winners per discipline will receive a total cash prize of (€5,200, €4,200 and €3,200, respectively) and be honored at a gala YCC award night to be held in Hollywood/ Los Angeles on 19 October.

YCC 2012 drew an unprecedented number of entries around this year's creative theme of opportunity and empowerment. Chevrolet received over 1,000 submissions from students representing 280 European applied art schools, also a new record. 

We are obviously very proud of Kenny, who joined us in the final year from our partner college Sint Lucas in Boxtell, The Netherlands.  This is by far the biggest prize that a student from Contemporary Lens Media has ever won!  You can watch his video by clicking on the above link; the above image is a still from the video.

D&AD success for Creative Advertising

Congratulations to Claire Stokes and Christina Smith from BA (Hons) Creative Advertising on winning a highly coveted D&AD Yellow Pencil. D&AD is one of the most prestigious international awards in advertising and to be recognised in this way is testament to the effort that the girls put into their work.

Hundreds of students from around the world enter into the competition and the standard of work is extremely high so to win amongst such company shows just how well they have done. The girls won the Digital Advertising category and the client for this year’s competition was Spotify. Claire and Christina came up with an idea that neatly tied together the strengths of Spotify and Facebook to create a campaign that rewarded music fans for their dedication.  

Cover of Digital Arts Magazine by Illustration graduate

Graduating BA (Hons) Illustration student Joe Mclean has just appeared in Digital Arts Magazine: the Graduate issue. 

Joe is from Norwich, Norfolk, and as an Illustrator he uses a combination of hand drawn lines, scanned textures, and Adobe Illustrator to create his work, which you can view by visiting his website.