Behind the scenes: UWE Bristol’s Product Design Degree Show 2018

UWE Bristol‘s Faculty of Environment and Technology will host its annual degree show on Thursday, with the theme of ‘Con-form’.

The event will showcase inspiring graduate projects from across the faculty and attendees will have the chance to see first-hand the innovative and often cutting-edge work done by students.

The show will take place at UWE’s Frenchay Campus from 5pm to 9pm on Thursday, June 7, and will be a celebration of emerging talent from a wide range of subjects including: architecture, creative technologies, computing, engineering, product design and geography and the environment.

Bristol24/7 has been lucky enough to get a sneak preview and the opportunity to share some of the stories behind the designs:

Abigail Fawcett – Creative Product Design

“I’m very much a hands-on designer, I got into design because I was really into art, photography, sculptures, anything to do with making,” says Abigail. “I chose to do Creative Product Design because I wanted a course that combined all those different things, but didn’t limit you to one thing.”

Interested in sustainable design, Abigail was inspired by media reports of oil and fat being thrown down the drains, causing flooding and blockages. After some research, she discovered that most soaps contain animal fat, and thought ‘why can’t you use used oil and fat and just filter it properly?’.

Abigail with her product, Wosh.

“My product, Wosh, is essentially a small intuitive household product that up-cycles waste fat, oil and grease into natural soap,” she explains.

The soaps incorporate different beneficial properties such as lemongrass, which has good anti-bacterial properties. Other flavourings include lavender and eucalyptus – and there’s not a trace of duck fat to be smelt.

Abigail explains that all food particles are removed during the filtering process.

The finished WOSH soaps.

Abigail has just been awarded an Innovation Scholarship at UWE, which enables her to work on her project for a further eight weeks. She has also been in contact with some companies who are intrigued by her product and its up-cycling properties.

“For me, the immediate future is to continue working on this, continue talking to people to drum up interest and basically see how far I can take it,” she says. “The dream would be for it to be realised as an actual product on the market.”

Ed Fry – Audio and Music Technology.

A ‘musical and techy’ guy, Ed’s interests include maths and science. “I did a music technology course at college, whilst playing in bands and recording with musicians,” he says. “I then chose to do the course at UWE to further enhance my interests and get a job in the music industry or the audio production industry.”

ED with his finished product

Ed worked freelance on trade shows, presenting products to the public. And his talents haven’t gone unnoticed as he was asked to return as a full-time employee at the music manufacturing company he completed a year-long placement with.

The device uses a touch screen from a Nintendo DS which records 2D axis, and connects to a computer using a USB cable.

The product Ed designed is an expressive device that tests musical interaction and how we can make this easier using current and furthering technologies. The device takes multidimensional polyphonic expression, which is a new technology, and tests that with IT theory and human computer interaction from the 90’s, for a musical purpose. This process was influenced by his work placement.

Looking forward, Ed hopes that the process of creating his device will help to further his knowledge, which he will bring to his new job in September.

Callum Taylor – Creative Product Design

An avid photographer and product designer, and also a keen cyclist and mountain biker, Callum’s decision to do the course lead on from his love of drawing and graphic design.

“I was quite into art and there’s something quite interesting about taking ideas from paper and creating something physical from that,” he says.

Callum with his mental health and well-being companion, Nurture

Callum’s project, Nurture, is a mental health and well-being companion that plays on the metaphor of mental progression and growth by nurturing a physical seed, which will virtually grow into a tree or a forest. This links back to the user’s mental progression. The trees act as a forest of personal success stories, Callum explains.

“It’s about looking after yourself through looking after your companion,” he says. “It’s inspired by the fact that recently, more and more people are coming forward about their mental health and seeking the help they need, but the NHS infrastructure we have doesn’t allow for everyone to get that immediate support and that can often means that people then get worse and need much more intensive support later on.”

Nurture, the complete set. Each tree represents different personality traits.

Callum has been in collaboration with Off The Record, a mental health charity in Bristol, and the inspiration for the forest theme came from one of the metaphors the charity uses. He is due to start full-time work in September and plans to pursue his project alongside his work, continuing to collaborate with Off The Record.

Megan Padma Stuart – Creative Product Design

“I’d say I’m quite a creative person in general. I have a big interest in taking waste items or second-hand items and creating something from those, in life in general, and on my course,” says Megan. “I like to do a lot of sewing and making accessories with things from a charity shop, or things from different places, and then in my course I’ve focused on that as well by taking waste products and making something out of them.

Megan is inspired by trying to create sustainable products.

Her influences come from eco and sustainable things. “I think a lot of our course is making more things that the world doesn’t need. So in my mind I thought, if I can make these things out of stuff that’s already there then that is good. So a big influence always comes from what sustainable aspect can I put in.

“I like the material to do a lot of the talking. I am big on materiality and what textures that gives and how people respond to different textures.”

For Megan’s product, It Has Bean, she began by creating a coffee composite material from waste coffee grounds and waste plastic coffee cup lids, and from this material she then created a series of products which are for use in a café.

“It’s aiming to tackle issues with waste and single-use in the café industry and this lack of connection with what you buy and how soon that can be thrown away,” Megan explains.

The coffee composite material is used to make plant pots, coffee carriers and napkin holders.

Now that she has finished her degree, Megan plans to do a bit of travelling and, in keeping with the creative theme, sell clothes that she has made on Etsy. She hopes to get a job in the outdoors, where she is happiest and plans to keep the creative stuff to her own time and develop projects that way.

Josephine Gyasi – Creative Product Design

Outside of her course, Josephine works at a Caribbean restaurant and enjoys going out. She chose product design because product design was one of the only courses she could fully concentrate with and it went from there.

Josephine’s product is ABENA, which is her middle name. It is the name given to children who are born on a Tuesday in Ghanaian culture. It is a natural beauty and skin care kit aimed at helping users make their own skin care products at home.

It is designed to take out any hassle out of making your own skincare and aims to be as easy, fun and as educational as possible.

Josephine with her handmade bowl.

The branding of the product is inspired by African culture and is designed to be sustainable.

Josephine has tested her products on lots of women at home and found the process to be messy, so she designed a mess mat.

She has developed six products, including massage cream, a hair mask, night cream, lip scrub, eczema cream, foot scrub etc.

ABENA, all-natural inspired beauty brand that aims to aid users to home-make their own skincare products.

“Everyone’s probably got a bowl and a spoon, but the idea behind it is there’s a kind of ritual to it. It’s supposed to be special,” she explains.

Josephine is also into ceramics and handmade the bowl that comes with the kit. The idea of the project was to incorporate all the things that she loves; ceramics, natural beauty products and Africa, and her plan for the future is to try to continue the product on as a brand from her kitchen at home.

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