Meet Robyn Tilsley, the winner of the SDC Midlands Heats of the International Design Competition
Three Education Provider Members entered the competition for the region: Birmingham City University, De Montfort University, and Nottingham Trent University.
Thank you to Gymshark for allowing Luci Hulme and Oliver Link from their design department to attend and judge the heat, with Darren Cleary and Sue Billett completing the brilliant judging panel.
Robyn Tilsley at De Montfort University rose to the challenge and took the top spot at the Midlands Heats with her submission ‘The Trendless Trend’, supported by her tutor Nick Rodgers.
She will now go on to compete against the winners of other UK regions on Thursday 16 May at Perkin House, to find an overall UK winner for the competition.
The winning submission saw inspiration from organic and well-loved designs to create a timeless look utilising colour in a way that prioritises responsible consumption and production.. Tilsley chose to use a maximum of two colours to counteract the trend cycle with shades that occur in nature and have consistently been popular throughout the history of textile coloration.
Runners-up from the event were Rebecca Watson from De Montfort University and Rae Akinbo from Nottingham Trent University.
The competition, themed Colour For Good: For planet and people, is globally recognised, and has helped to launch the careers of many creative textile careers throughout the years.
The Midlands Region AGM followed the judging heat, with Theadora Prassa joining the committee. Georgie Worker, Kathy Dickinson and Stephen Tongue were re-elected to their roles of chair, honorary secretary and honorary treasurer, respectively and Jinsong Shen was elected as vice-chair.
Thank you to those who joined the students on a tour of Nottingham Trent University’s dye garden and printing workshop: Pam & John Morris, Geoff Rudkin and Eamon Furey, and Dora Prassa who gave a talk on natural dyes followed by a lively Q&A session.
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