Plymouth student designs lighting BAFTAs dress

A Plymouth University student rubbed shoulders with stars of the small screen as she saw one of her designs showcased at the 2015 House of Fraser British Academy Television Awards.

Kate Pollard, a first year BA (Hons) Graphic Communication with Typography student, won a competition to design part of the interactive dress worn by TV presenter Donna Air at the awards ceremony on Sunday 10 May.

As part of her prize, the 19-year-old got to see her work being worn on the red carpet, attending the high profile event at the Theatre Royal on London’s Drury Lane.

The competition was run by awards title sponsor House of Fraser and brand agency 1HQ, who wanted to create a fashion piece combining art and innovation that fused stunning visual effects, brilliant digital patterns and animation to celebrate their first year as title sponsors of the TV BAFTAs.

With a dress created by leading designer Rebecca Street, they invited students to design a lighting system that would capture the imagination and create a spectacle on the red carpet.

Kate, a former Plymouth High School for Girls pupil, chose to base her design on popular TV genres, with a panel of judges placing it on a shortlist of three and the overall winner being selected via a public vote on Twitter.

She said: “With this being the BAFTAs, I wanted to create something appropriate and it obviously caught the eye of the judges and the public. But I was not really expecting to get shortlisted, so to actually win and have my work worn by Donna Air was amazing.

“The brief for the competition was quite open and required a combination of sketches and storyboards, so it was challenging but very exciting to get the chance to work on a live brief. This was totally different to anything I had done before, but the course has given me a great grounding in the best ways to approach ideas and present them.”

James Brocklehurst, Programme Leader for BA (Hons) Graphic Communication with Typography, added: “This was an outstanding experience for Kate and great reward for a piece of work created in very challenging circumstances. It was brilliant for her to be able to work on something outside of her studies, in conjunction with internationally known brands and designers, and for all our students to see the ways their work can potentially impact on the public.”

For more information about the BA (Hons) Graphic Communication with Typography course, visit https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-graphic-communicatio....