Graphic design students get priceless experience at Christie’s
A group of second year graphic design students visited B.A.M. London, a design partnership whose current major client is Christie’s - the world’s largest auction house for Fine Art.
Five students had won the opportunity to visit the company, who have a small base at Christie’s, by responding to a brief set by B.A.M. London in collaboration with Steve Lannin, the Enterprise Fellow for the School of Art, Design & Fashion.
B.A.M London are David McKendrick & Lee Belcher, both former art directors of Esquire & Wallpaper respectively, who have designed quarterly editorial & commercial magazines for Christie’s over the past year. These publications are only sent to the world’s richest art collectors – but copies were also given to the students as a prize for their achievement.
The students were asked to present their work to David and Lee, after which they were given a tour of Christie’s Showrooms.
Following the presentations and visit David McKendrick B.A.M. London said: "We were really impressed by the standard and execution of the work. The students were mature, articulate, and confident with their ideas.
“It was really rewarding and refreshing for us to see talent emerge from the second-year of a course. Between myself and Lee, we have lectured and taught at various universities throughout the UK and found the level of Solent students exceptional.
“We look forward to offering a couple of them a well-deserved internship over the summer as well as forging a long lasting relationship with the course and poaching all the good students when they graduate."
Steve thinks this is a fantastic opportunity for Solent students studying BA Hons Graphic Design: “Feedback of this kind from such high-profile Design Directors is invaluable, their truly enterprising spirit is an inspiration and I hope this experience will help define the students’ attitudes to a very popular industry.”
Two of the students who made a big impression were Oliver Furlong and Megan Glynn, who have both secured an internship with B.A.M for the summer. We managed to find out how they felt about being chosen for the placement with David and Lee.
Oliver Furlong, aged 24 from Folkestone in Kent, was excited to be chosen: "It feels amazing to be given such a great opportunity at this stage in my development, I'm really looking forward to working with such powerhouses like Lee and David, the experience will be invaluable"
Whilst 20 year old Megan Glynn from Newtown in Mid-Wales said the placement is going to be the making of her career: "I feel like the luckiest person to be given this opportunity. It will be the making of my career and open doors that nothing else could, the experience will be extremely beneficial. I'm really looking forward to working with the team at B.A.M. and being in the same environment as such amazing designers learning real life work experience."
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT THE MEDIA OFFICE ON 023 8201 3040 or press.office@solent.ac.uk
About Southampton Solent University
Southampton Solent University offers more than 19,000 students over 200 qualifications ranging from HND to PhD, in subjects such as maritime education and training, fashion and design, media and television, music, health, sport and leisure, business, IT and technology. The University was awarded the 2013 Quality Assurance kitemark for quality and standards of teaching and learning. Solent was voted one of the most creative universities in the UK in a Which? University 2014 poll of students. Solent Business School has been awarded the Small Business Charter Award, which is supported by the Association of Business Schools and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and ‘gold approval’ by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
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