Two graduates from BA (Hons) Graphic Design at Arts University Bournemouth were honoured by the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) this year, receiving awards recognising their entrepreneurial skills.
Madeleine Brissenden took home the RSA Spark Entrepreneurs Award for Cool Spot (in response to an Urban Cool brief), while Amelie O'Sullivan won the RSA Spark Chancegrove Family Foundation Entrepreneurs Award for Work Hard Play Hard (in response to a Where People Meet brief, in partnership with the Rayne Foundation.
"Our final-year students tackle the complex gnarly problems set by RSA Spark using collaborative research methods to gain deep user insights and to inspire innovation," explains Marion Morrison, course leader for BA (Hons) Graphic Design at AUB. "These inform the ethical design of products, interactions, and services that are useful, usable, effective, and desirable."
Both Madeleine and Amelie won £1,000 to use to further develop their ideas. They'll also receive mentorship through to the spring.
At the RSA Spark Showcase event, which took place on 23 September, Amelie took part in an RSA Panel event, alongside Graphic Design Senior Lecturer Marten Sims, Crispin Truman OBE, Holly Lewis, and Dr Joanna Choukeir, RSA Director of Design and Innovation.
Marten comments, "Amelie sparkled when presenting insights into how she approached her winning project – gaining direct insights by undertaking primary research with the site project manager, interviewing professionals about their requirements of co-working and events spaces, and pitching to investors as part of the final stages of her process as a student.
"Being on the panel was especially good fun – teasing host Joanna about her difficult questions, as well as bantering with Amelie about how ‘tough' I was as a tutor! But there was also opportunity for deep and meaningful reflection with the serious questions I was posed: the impact of the upcoming National Curriculum and Assessment Review in the UK; reflections on the Creative Industries Sector plan; funding challenges in HE sector, and; the impact of AI acceleration in the creative sector.
"I used the metaphor of a ‘Tree-shaped Designer’ as a gentle reminder that no matter what happens next, the kinds of designers that educators should be moulding are exactly what the RSA Spark stands for: creative, empathy-capable, transdisciplinary problem-solvers who can weather any storm."
Amelie’s work also garnered her other prizes, including runner-up for Dragon Rouge and Highly Commended for WMH&I Brand Britain. Creative Bloq also named her their ‘one to watch’ from D&AD New Blood.
The RSA Sparks are the next iteration of the RSA Design Awards, the world's longest-running student design competition. Madeleine and Amelie's work can be explored in the RSA Spark Digital Showcase.
