2017 Graphic Design graduate Hamish McEachern was awarded a Gold Award for his Fair Food Union Initiative. Designed to combat food poverty and some of the many factors associated with it through social cooking, the organisation connects people living in a local area to cook together.

In the same category, Hamish, along with 2017 Product Design student Peter Webster, scooped a Silver Award for their Finish Dug project. The project focuses on a character who gets better at the end of a course of antibiotics in an attempt to address the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance.

Tom Flynn and Callum Hughes, both Creative Advertising students, also received a Highly Commended Award for their Pearson Algorithm project. The project aims to link like-minded pupils so that they can learn together through personalised teaching.

A Gold Award was awarded to Jack Proctor within the Film and Photography category. Jack – a 2015 Design and Digital Arts graduate who rose to fame when he took his dog Fudge along to graduations – was praised for his Small World Campaign which used miniature street art installations to replicate social media clichés and terminology.

Product Design

2016 Product Design graduate Ieva Ratyte received a Highly Commended award for Unfold – a wardrobe designed to reduce the amount of clothes that are on display at one given time.

Learn more about Unfold here:

“What’s so special about these awards is the spirit of activism that’s ingrained in the work,” said a thrilled Ian Lambert, Head of Design, Photography & Advertising.

“It’s work that reaches beyond commercial gain and meets the pressing issues of our age such as equality, poverty, famine and mental health. Areas where creativity can be used as a powerful source to deliver change. We are incredibly proud of the students.”

Creative Conscience is a global movement that aims to improve the communities in which we live and work and in turn help transform the wider world. Included in the judging panel is Sir Quentin Blake, Sir Jonathon Porritt and Professor Helen Storey MBE.

Alongside its success in the Creative Conscience Awards, a group of MSc Creative advertising students along with two graduates from last year also had their worked recognised at the D&AD New Blood Awards in London last week.

The award acknowledge young creative talent, with winning a prestigious New Blood Pencil viewed as instant validation for an individual’s potential within the design world.

The University took home three Wood Pencil awards.

Tom Flynn, Calum Hughes and Romi Rellum were praised for their project Whoever You Are, Be The Best which responded to a brief to reposition The British Army as an employer of choice among a young and diverse audience.

Andrea Sarnataro, Silivia Cutrera and Calum Greenhill cut through the competition with their Subwave project – a unique party submerged in the sea to reinforce the importance and urgency of climate change.

2016 graduates Mirjam Perkmann and Corina Cristia completed the hat-trick with a third Wood Pencil for Autofmind. Autofmind aims to raise awareness of autism by using what everyone has in common – their online presence.

Since 1962, D&AD has been inspiring a community of creative thinkers by celebrating and stimulating the finest in design and advertising. The D&AD Professional Awards are recognised globally as the ultimate creative accolade, entered and attended by the best from around the world.