M&S partnership reaps rewards for design students
Design students from Leeds have had the opportunity to work with retail industry experts and present their work to a nationwide audience thanks to the University’s partnership with M&S.
A bag designed, made and produced by Leeds students working with a team from Marks and Spencer took pride of place on the tables at the M&S/Business in the Community Annual Dinner at the Royal Albert Hall. The unique, recycled bag uses wool cuttings from M&S suits and paper produced by Yorkshire company Weldmann Whiteley Limited.
Earlier this year, Chloe Allen, a second-year Graphics & Communication Design student was awarded a prestigious year in industry paid placement with M&S. The placement was awarded following a hotly contested industry project in which students were asked to design within a specific food packaging brief, matching a range of M&S products with a particular style such as luxury or organic. One of Chloe’s winning designs is pictured above.
The top five students had the opportunity to present their designs to Charlotte Raphael-Graham, Head of Graphic Packaging at M&S Head Office in Paddington, as well as the chance to hear from members of the team about their careers and explore their own career development.
Charlotte Raphael-Graham, Head of Packaging Design at Marks & Spencer, said: “I was really impressed with the all the work that was submitted for this brief. The five short listed students that I met were all talented designers with fantastic portfolios of work despite only being in their second year and it was a tough choice. I am consistently impressed with the calibre of the graphic design students from Leeds University, the quality of both the way they are taught and also how they analyse and approach the problem is outstanding. We have really enjoyed having two students from Leeds this past year and we are very much looking forward to Chloe joining our team.”
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