Rugs Competition

I was invited to judge on this years Good Weave Student competition, with Katrina Burroughs known best for her 'How to Spend it' for the FT and Roger Oates, Paul Vowles from Woven Ground and Lucy and David from Jacaranda carpets. 

GoodWeave UK runs the annual Student Rug Design Competition to

encourage young designers to consider the importance of ethical

manufacture from the very start of their careers, highlighting GoodWeave’s work to end exploitative child labour in the rug industry. This year’s competition was co-sponsored by Jacaranda Carpets and WovenGround.

Paul and Roger deliberating.......

Working to a brief set by Roger Oates, students were asked to interpret fashion in order to design an elegant rug with a luxury feel. Charlotte took inspiration from the techniques used by Jonathan Saunders in his Ombré Collection and her research into colour blending, starling murmurations and reflections of sunlight on water led to her final design.

The  Competition has been won by Charlotte Wildsmith, a second year Textile Design student at De Montfort University, with her striking design below:

Charlotte’s design wooed us all!

I particularly was drawn to the colour range of Charlotte’s design as I found it striking, original and at the same time unusual. I can see it working in multiple settings with its eclectic colour and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how it translates into a rug!

Here are some other pieces which stood out for me from the student's work.....

I particularly loved this print below, which was in the student's back up material, and was not her final design. I loved this and would frame it and have it on my wall!  Sometimes it is about knowing when to stop with a design ... in this case less is more.

an example below of the type of boards and back up work that we received....

This was a strong contender - one can really imagine this as a completed  rug

Lucy and David checking the names of our shortlist.....

I loved this design which was again a lead up design to the final  piece, which in my view was stronger, I would love to see these subtle rainbow colours on grey, like oil on water....

Congratulations to all the entrants - and if you are a student reading this, be sure to check Good Weaves website for their next competition!