Pictured: Paul Facey and Christopher Wall
A competition launched by a Telford company to identify talented
student product designers has come up trumps with a futuristic
winning garden table and chairs which will go into commercial
production.
Leading outdoor furniture company Hartman UK, based in Telford,
had given third year BA (Hons) Design Studies students from
Birmingham City University a brief to design a new collection for
2013.
A winning design from Christopher Wall, 24, was selected. Judges
from Hartman UK's senior team judged the yet-to-be-named design - a
resin weave modular table and chairs - as 'contemporary,
aesthetically pleasing, futuristic, and colourful'.
Christopher will win £1,000 and Liling Yao, who came
second, will also see her design, named Rocking Chair, produced for
Hartman's 2013 collection and receive £500.
A presentation to the winning students took place at the
Birmingham Institute of Art & Design on Tuesday, December 6.
The presentation was part of a larger design exhibition, organised
and curated by level 6 Design Studies students where several of the
Hartman project outcomes were on display, along with other student
work showcasing the wealth of design talent within the Product
Design, Interior Product Design and Interior Design pathways.
Paul Facey, Hartman UK's Sales Director, said: "All the designs
were exceptional and our job was very difficult. Each piece
of work was professionally presented and totally blew us away. The
winner and the runner up stood out particularly in terms of design,
style, shape, usability and the wow factor.
"This competition was all about finding a design that could
feasibly be brought to market, and we were stunned that we found so
many designs that we could do that with. We can't wait to see the
amazing creations we've seen on paper become reality."
Charmaine Stint, enterprise development manager at Birmingham
City University, said: "Birmingham City University is an innovative
and forward-thinking university with a focus on developing high
quality graduate talent. The students submitted a huge variety and
quality of designs which reflect the amount of work they put in and
the quality of our students. We have enjoyed working with Hartman
on this exciting project, and look forward to seeing the end
results as the designs go forward for manufacture."
Students were asked to consider commerciality and trends as well
as material and production restraints such as shipping container
sizes and durability. The product range needed to be suitable for
manufacture in extruded, cast or pressed aluminium, or resin weave.
The winning designs will be showcased as part of the Hartman
2013 collection at the outdoor living exhibition, Solex in July
2012.