The best graduate work of 2014
Ollie Arthur-Banes
University of Portsmouth
Illustration
Picking up a lot of attention from industry professionals when he exhibited at New Designers, Arthur-Banes' selection of satirical posters -- inspired by the absurdity of dictatorships -- are graphically arresting.
The posters sharply satirise the 'Kim Dynasty' of North Korea and more historical figures including Hitler and Stalin, via their strong visual codes and iconic imagery, using a mixture of photography and collage to create silkscreen prints. JT
Ricardas Blazukas
University of Westminster
Architecture
Blazukas' experiments with firing clay in a variety of his own self-built kilns are beautiful objects in their own right. His ceramics reflect such a deft touch, and an instinctive response to material.
The reason they are worth writing about is that they feed perfectly into a really well-developed design proposal for a ceramics complex in Marrakech. Blazukas obviously really grappled with the brief, and it dealt him a few heavy blows, but he followed it well and the results are beautiful. His drawings are only outshone by his ceramics. EB
Zuzana Gombosova
Central Saint Martins
Textile Futures
3D printing is something we're all pretty much aware of, but this set-up has been designed by Gombosova to 3D print with microorganisms. The project is all about exploring the potential manufacturing processes and applications for living material and, in particular, bacterial cellulose.
Gombosova started by experimenting with different patterns of feeding and nurturing to control the growth of the bacteria. This led to the development of the device which could control this growth -- in essence, a biological printer: the device provides nutrients where growth is wanted.
Depending on the level of growth allowed, the resultant material varies from a paper-like to a leather-like quality. Her investigations continue. JT