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Three Â鶹ƵµÀ Leicester (DMU) students have proven their expertise after being put to the test by historic porcelain manufacturer, Royal Crown Derby. 

The luxury tableware brand, famous for its high quality bone china, challenged DMU’s final year Textile Design students to research the global market and design a range of pattern and surface treatments to bring a contemporary feel to its traditional designs.

Encouraged to put their own creative spin on the brief, the three winners triumphed due to their innovative responses.

“We had to come up with three different designs which appealed to a specific consumer,” explained first place winner Emilia Good.

“I get a lot of inspiration from nature and looked at innovative ways to mark-make with natural objects, like rolled mushroom stems. I used macro photography of rocks, greenery and moss to create different textures.”

Emilia Good with Nikki Stone and Matthew Harrison from Royal Crown Derby 

Emilia’s creativity proved successful, with her taking the first place prize of £1,500.

“Doing the project definitely improved my technical and digital work but it was also eye-opening to see how my degree can be applied to so many different career avenues that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought about,” said the 22-year-old from Uttoxeter.

Second-place winner Naomi Hall, who was awarded £750, found the experience similarly illuminating, saying: “Designing for a high-end luxury brand was something new for all of us. It was good to be pushed both creatively and technically, as well as thinking about a different consumer while creating.

Naomi Hall with Nikki Stone and Matthew Harrison from Royal Crown Derby

“I created my designs from the idea of what nature could become through this process. I blended the natural and the digital by using natural surface texture and distorting it with sleek line work and dark colours to produce an abstract effect. Having this creative free reign allowed me to incorporate my own style into the design and build on the work I was already doing.”

During the project, the students visited the Royal Crown Derby factory and museum where they explored the production process and the history of the company. Students also gained professional insight from Matthew Harrison, the brand’s creative director, and senior creative Nikki Stone, who gave feedback on the live brief during a mid-module review.

Matthew Harrison, creative director at Royal Crown Derby, said: "Right from the initial project briefing, we were impressed with how the DMU students embraced the challenge of working within a different design discipline other than textiles. The professional quality of presentations, brand understanding, consumer research and final design work presented was exceptional." 

As well as giving the students the opportunity to flex their creative muscles in a new area, the experience allowed them to pitch their ideas to a leading company in the industry.

“It was really good to gain experience of presenting to a client, as well as building on our technical and digital skills. Doing market research and thinking about a particular consumer really expanded my knowledge of the industry,” said Molly Paine, the third-place winner of the competition.

Molly Paine with Nikki Stone and Matthew Harrison from Royal Crown Derby

“This project really helped me to gain confidence and learn to adapt my techniques. It’s shown me how much skills in this area overlap in different parts of the industry and the importance of being able to translate your skills and visualise how they can be used in different ways.”

The first and second place winners of the competition will get the chance to build on this industry insight during their placement at the firm, while the third place winner will receive £500.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the industry works in more depth and what roles there are. It will be so useful to see how the software and techniques we use on our course translate to the workplace and how they are used on a day-to-day basis,” said Emilia. 

The placement will also give the students the chance to see their designs progress. Matthew Harrison said: “We are looking forward to welcoming Emilia and Naomi on their Royal Crown Derby placement later in the year, where we plan to explore & develop their winning designs to next stage of the design process."