Illustration, fashion and product design students secure prestigious awards and Makerversity residencies

Four Kingston School of Art students have been recognised for their creativity, innovation and design excellence after receiving this year's Bruce Duckworth Award and Makerversity Residency Awards, gaining not only prestigious recognition but also access to studio space, industry networks and professional opportunities that will help shape their future careers.

The annual awards were presented as part of Kingston School of Art's degree show, celebrating the standout work of graduating students across the School.

Graphic Design student Stanley Plowman was awarded the Bruce Duckworth Award for Excellence, while product and furniture design student Jiyoung Kim, fashion student Angus McCaffery and illustration animation student Adam Belden each secured a coveted six-month residency at Makerversity, the creative workspace and innovation hub based at Somerset House in central London.

The Makerversity residencies provide graduates with access to studio space, facilities, professional networks and support to further develop projects begun during their studies, with the aim of helping them explore opportunities for commercialisation and funding. The Bruce Duckworth Award for Excellence celebrates outstanding creativity in a student project and is supported by Kingston graduate Bruce Duckworth, co-founder of internationally renowned brand design agency Turner Duckworth, whose clients have included Amazon, Coca-Cola and Adidas.

Human creativity meets technology

Stanley Plowman received the Bruce Duckworth Award for Garble, a project exploring the relationship between typography, technology and physical making. Beginning with Helvetica as a framework, he developed a process that uses a pen plotter to generate intricate letterforms and visual compositions, embracing machine errors, unexpected outcomes and deliberate human interventions to create work that moves beyond traditional type design into a more expressive artistic practice.

Plowman said the project reflected his belief that emerging technologies should be used creatively rather than passively, with designers actively shaping the creative process. "I think it's important to collaborate and not just use technology mindlessly. There should always be some sort of human intervention within cutting-edge technology," the 23-year-old from Tooting said. "I start off with digital methods and then I always bring them back to analogue. There's something about making something with your hands that feels more satisfying."

Designing for longevity

South Korean student Jiyoung Kim was awarded a Makerversity residency for her low lounge chair, a repairable furniture design that combines comfort, sustainability and longevity. The chair features a generously cushioned seat set within a simple plywood frame, with exposed straps, slats and fixings that allow individual components to be removed, repaired or replaced. Using natural materials and designing for easy maintenance, Kim sought to challenge the throwaway culture often associated with upholstered furniture and encourage users to keep products for longer.

Kim said her design approach was rooted in creating lasting relationships between people and the objects they own. "I want people to keep their objects longer. When I design, I always think about how the product can last as long as possible," she said. "There's the physical durability of the materials, but also whether people build an emotional connection with it and want to keep it. If something can be repaired, adapted and passed on, it can have a much longer life."

Makerversity winners showcase breadth of design talent

Fashion student Angus McCaffery received a Makerversity residency for a menswear collection that translates personal experiences of landscape and travel into contemporary outdoor-inspired clothing. Drawing on photographs taken in locations including the Pyrenees, Morocco and his home in Devon, the collection combines rugged textures, camouflage motifs and military-influenced construction to evoke an imagined journey through mountains, forests, meadows and coastlines. Oversized pockets, adjustable fastenings and weathered fabrics reference functional garments, while reclaimed materials, including washed-up sailcloth recovered from the shoreline, are overdyed and reconstructed into pieces that carry the physical traces and stories of the environments that inspired them.

Adam Belden secured a Makerversity residency for Space Antix, an action figure prototype inspired by a comic series of the same name and influenced by the toy lines of the 1980s and 1990s. Combining nostalgia with contemporary design, the project explores the full product development process, from concept artwork and character creation through to realised production samples. As well as developing the figure itself, illustration animation student Belden focused on toy mechanisms, sculpting, painting and packaging design, using the project to challenge himself across every stage of product making while paying tribute to the distinctive visual language of classic action figures.

Industry recognition and Future Skills

Rachel Gannon, Head of the Design School at Kingston School of Art, said the quality of submissions had been exceptionally high, demonstrating the breadth of creative practice across the School. "What really stood out, both in the shortlisted entrants and the eventual winners, was the diversity of projects, approaches and contexts," she explained. "Rather than a single dominant theme, what connected the projects was a shared depth of enquiry, whether that was social, material, environmental or technological. Students are encouraged to follow their own questions, interests and passions, and that individuality was clearly visible across the work."

Gannon said the awards also helped students develop important professional and future-focused skills by requiring them to present their work to external audiences and industry experts. "Putting yourself forward for an award, developing a high-quality proposal and presenting to industry professionals all require a combination of enterprising thinking, resilience and self-awareness," she said. "Students need to reflect critically on their work, communicate its value with clarity and respond confidently to feedback. They begin to position themselves professionally and gain confidence that their work resonates beyond the university context." 

• Find out more about the Design School at Kingston School of Art.