It's that time again!

Black Fox MetalCraft

An ex-student of the Illustration Course has adapted her skills to set up a new venture. Jenny Reed has set up a company called, Black Fox Metalcraft who specialize in the design and manufacture of decorative metalwork products such as weathervanes, house signs and window boxes. 

Jenny added to her skill set after completion of the degree programme, taking courses in welding and blacksmithing. Together with her business partner, they take inspiration from natural forms, Gothic and  Victorian architecture and Art Nouveau illustration.  

Graduate News

There is an interview with recent graduate Dominique Byron in the latest issue of Digital Arts.  Jordan O'Brien is featured in this months Computer Arts. Keep raising that profile!

Just So Festival 2012

I have just got back from a busy weekend at the Just So Festival 2012 (so Rock n' Roll). It is a festival for young children and their families. A group of students had applied to assist Lord Whitney in theor fabulous set up of dressing of the site. I hung lampshades in a tree! I then ran a hectic Lantern Making workshop on Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. Glamourous assistants came in the form of Rick Clapham, Emma Thorpe, Laura Sharpe and even Gary Spicer came armed with extra supplies. This was a very popular workshop, the lanterns took on all sorts of forms and structures. Watching families work on them together was a real joy. It culminated in a wonderful night time parade of the 378 lanterns that were made. Phew!

Toys and Tales

A project set last November, finally came to fruition this month. From the Cross-Pathway Project a beautiful partnership was formed by Hannah McLennan-Jones and Natalie Molyneaux, aka 'Shark & Anchor'. They were selected by the owners of Toys and Tales to transform the window of their Poynton store. They have done a great job.

New Blood 2012

We have just returned from the annual D&AD New Blood exhibition in Spitalfields London. Students from Illustration, Graphic Design and Moving Image, raised funds to have a stand there. The exhibition represents new talent from the art colleges and universities across the U.K. The exhibition is open to the public and industry are invited to look at the work on show. It can be a great platform for graduates to showcase their work and network with professionals, it is also really useful to see the competition! 


Our stand got lots of positive feedback for being full of personality and had visits from Scholastic Children's Books, Tigerprint, The Organisation illustration agency. Dominique Byron's work (Illustration) was featured on the Digital Arts blog review of the show, along with Tom Matheison (Moving Image). Helen Porter from Graphic Design was featured on the Creative Review blog, as one of their hot picks!

Age UK Project

A lovely project completed by 2nd year BA (hons) Illustration students in collaboration with Age UK (Stockport). We made visits to day care centres in Marple and South Reddish and spent valuable time talking to people at various stages of dementia. This provided a unique and insightful experience for everyone involved. The conversation were used to make pictures to illustrate the lives of the people we spoke to. Stories about their lives, things they did, anecdotes or fragments of memories became pictures. The work resulted in the publication of a booklet entitled 'Pieces' which was accompanied by a set of cards representing individual visual responses. A special design to TextBook studios who designed, photographed and managed the printing of the job.