Epson has given two awards to BA Textile Design students at Birmingham City University. First year student Zoha Javed has been named the Birmingham City University winner in this year’s Epson Challenge, while Charlotte Greenwood secured the Epson Award for a Final Year Student.
Visitors to Fespa this year may have seen some of the design work produced by Javed on show in the ‘aspirational apartment’ including kitchen units, splashbacks, plates and cutlery in the kitchen area (see picture). The annual Epson project was initially introduced as an extra-curricular competition but was so successful that it has been incorporated into the university’s first year module.
The brief this year was to either design patterns for hard and soft furnishings, walls and flooring or accessories for a restaurant in a luxury hotel or for a show home where buyers look for an aspirational lifestyle. Students were given a restricted colour palette for each scenario and were encouraged to learn more about digital printing technology but to combine other techniques and processes - including knit, weave and embroidery - to create original work.
Kelly-Marie Sifleet, senior technical demonstrator, said: “We use Epson SureColor SC-F dye sublimation and DTG printers in the textiles department and students are encouraged to use digital print effectively. The Epson project enables them to learn a great deal about colour and register and to discover how easy the equipment is to use and how it opens up creative opportunities. The work produced was exceptional and Zoha was a very worthy winner.”
On the Final Year Student Award Heather Kendle, market development manager at Epson Europe, said: “When assessing the final year degree show for Epson, we are looking at how students are incorporating print into their thinking, but also want to see a breadth of thinking and original interpretation. Charlotte’s work incorporates elements of origami and is very precise in its execution, which complements the quality of Epson print. Her laser cutting, pleating and alignment of print with these techniques created some unusual pieces and demonstrated a good eye for detail.”
