showing off…

All of the end-of-year exhibitions are still proudly on show around the Beacon Centre. Just in case you can't make it down to the college to have a look, or you just want to look from the comfort of your own computer screen, ipad, mobile phone or whatever else you look at pictures on these days, we have uploaded an album on our facebook page. Above is a quick selection from some of the show highlights, but if you want to view the full photo album, you can do that here…


There is still time to come down to the college and view the show in real life, but don't wait too long, it's only on show until Wednesday 4th July (the date we mentioned before for public viewing was wrong, sorry!)

come on in…

Well, it's done and dusted once again. Last night marked the grand opening and private view of the Extended Diploma Final Show 2012 (along with all the other art & design courses at Blackburn College). We had a fantastic theme for our yearbook (British Summer/The Seaside), which carried through to our exhibition… we had our very own ice cream van set up in the studios, serving ice cream cones & lollipops! The work on display was great as always, and well done to all our second years. Hopefully some fantastic photos are to follow…
The exhibition is now open to the public until next Friday, the 22nd June, so come down and have a look if you can. It will be next year's show before we know it!

just like it never ended…

The exhibition-putting-up-machine is in full swing. Everything is going non-stop… the painting, the printing, the cutting, the spray-mounting and the digital editing! We don't want to give too much away until the opening night, because we want to see you there :)


Opening night is Wednesday 20th June, from 6.30pm…all our friends past and present are welcome!

all white, all white…

That time is here once again…exhibition time!! Most things are quite a bit different this year; New building, new exhibition space, new boards, even some new exhibition surprises… However, some things are the same as ever, such as the need to paint everything white, several times!
Hopefully the paint will just go onto the boards, and not onto the floor or any of our second years… and hopefully all the students will survive without Sue, Mandy or Tim trying to clobber them for making a horrible mess! Keep an eye on the blog for some more updates on how the exhibition is coming along.

yes to success…

All of our students are really busy at the moment - the first years are getting all their work together & creating fabulous looking portfolios, while the second years are nearing the end of their FMP. With that in mind, here is a little bit of motivation from Malcolm Forbes… a bit of enthusiasm can get you everywhere! Good luck everyone…

printed matters… 2012

The end is nigh for the current first years - their progressional interviews are fast approaching, and they should be bringing all work produced this year together in a shiny portfolio! Just before Easter they had the deadline for the magazine design project, so we wanted to give you a peek at some of their final designs…
The selection above shows work from Jack Bullen, Danny Mazzolai, Krissy Kelly, Phil Thornback & Lauren Maher.

my type of teacake…

Last week we put a link on our FB page to the most recent Studio Life video on Youtube from Computer Arts / Adobe. The video focuses on the design studio Teacake, based in Manchester and interviews Rob Walmsley about design, type, competitions and projects…
Rob studied his degree in Manchester, but guess where he started out? Yep, Rob was, once upon a time, a student on the EDGD course! Wow. Oh Em Gee, and other such statements. He may have done lots since his time at Blackburn College, but it is still great to see one of our own out there getting recognition for being a top graphic designer. You can see the video profile on Teacake studio here…

curtain call…

The second years are currently working away on their FMP’s, but we wanted to show some work off from one of their recent projects, poster design 2012. The brief was to create a set of three theatre posters for musical productions. Here is a selection of the best ones…designs from top left are by; Martyn Hunt, Ryan Grady, Jordan Coverley, Ryan Hammond, Samantha Johnson & Kirstie Gilleade. The full poster sets can be viewed over on our Facebook page here…

eggs is eggs…

Happy Easter everyone!! We know it's a little bit early for some of you, but seeing as this is our last day of term, we thought would be nice and wish everyone well today! Hope everyone manages to enjoy some time off, get out in the sunshine (if it sticks around), and of course, eat lots of chocolate. Two weeks off, and then it will be that time of year once again…FMP time!! See you all soon…

printed matters…

Our current first years have their magazine project deadline TOMORROW, so with that in mind, we wanted to share some of the final designs from last year…The selection above shows work from James Green, Eiren Carr, Adam Dempsey, Luke Jones, Ryan Grady and Kirsty Connor.


We wonder what tomorrow's deadline will bring, and if any of the designs will beat these great examples…

so long, farewell…

We have taken our time to write this update, because it is a very difficult thing to put into words… but after 12-or-more years of honourable service, our much beloved Kate has left the ndgd/edgd team. She will be greatly missed - her dyslexia, her forgetfulness, as well as her skill of saying accidentally inappropriate things…but also for her great sense of humour, her dedication to other staff and students, and of course her teaching and design skills!!
I'm sure it's not the last we will see or hear from Kate, or her VW camper van, but for now it's So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye…

flying the nest…

Our second years have been preparing their portfolios, and have witnessed what not to do in the interview room, thanks to Mandy and Sue… with Sue displaying perhaps the WORST interview technique by anyone, ever! The real-life interviews are starting to come thick and fast now, and before long we are hoping to have all our little birds snapped up by various universities. So far we have had students accepted into UCLAN, Blackpool & The Fylde, Stockport, and Bolton Institute…
As the other interview dates start to arrive, we are hoping to send more of our second years out to show off their work, and do us all proud at EDGD!

you've been framed…

On Friday the 3rd of February, our brand new Beacon Centre has its official opening! It's sure to be a very posh affair, with lots of important visitors coming to see all our students in action, as well as to check out our new home. In preparation, many of the Creative Arts courses are organising an exhibition space to show off all our students skills… and here is our current selection process. We are going to display work from both our current 1st and 2nd years in the exhibition space, and we are planning to have lots of examples of finished projects from over the past few years up in our base rooms!
It will probably be a busy one next week, so we will hopefully get some more pictures up of the preparations, as well as of the grand opening itself! Always watching…

brand new start…

A little bit belated, but happy new year everyone! It has been all systems go the past week for us here at EDGD…we have been settling into our new building and trying to make ourselves at home. We now have real lifts, rather than a maintenance lift - handy for some of us because there are waaaaaaay more stairs in our new home! The biggest loss is the fact that there is no more Dragon's Den…yes our little office has gone forever! So any ex-students who wish to pay us all a visit any time soon, then find your way to the new Beacon Centre and head up to BC-4-06, which is the new second year base-room.
We shall get photos up soon, when we have unpacked a bit more, and hopefully we shall get some new student work photos up too…