From exquisite wearable balloons to bio iridescent sequins, the winners of this year's awards demonstrate the breadth and boldness of contemporary creativity
Presented by global communications network MullenLowe Group, the annual MullenLowe NOVA Awards celebrate exceptional work by graduating students from across our degree shows. Featuring the work from across five programmes, the awards span the fields of jewellery, textiles, graphic design, performance design, product design and architecture.
Receiving the main prize of the evening BA Fashion's Fredrik Tjærandsen said: "I’m a man of few words. I can’t begin to express how important this is and how grateful I am for this award. Thank you so much." The two runners up were Xiaoying Liang of MA Graphic Communication Deisgn and Elissa Brunato from MA Material Futures. The YourNOVA Award, voted for by the public, was given to MA Character Animation graduate Haemin Ko.
2019 marks the 9th year of the MullenLowe NOVA Awards and this year includes the inaugural Creative Review Award for Innovation. Announcing Brunato (MA Material Futures) as the winner for her bio iridescent sequin, Associate Editor of Creative Review, Rachel Steven said:
"It’s never been more important to rethink the way things are made and the material that they’re made from. Elissa's project offers a beautiful and sustainable alternative to a ubiquitous item that for all its aesthetic appeal has a terrible impact on the environment. We were incredibly impressed not only by the research but just how amazing the finished products looks."
Nathan Cook, Global Director of Advertising Innovation at Unilever awarded the Unilever Un-Stereotype Award to Sara Gulamali, BA Fine Art, commenting:
Sara's work highlights feeling invisible and equally highly visible. A feeling of not being represented positively in our society and yet being represented everywhere at the same time through entrenched stereotypes fuelled by the news media. Both myself and the judging panel thought this was incredibly powerful work, it touched upon a very important challenge for young people around the world today.
Shortlisted works
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Dysfunctional Sharpener, Wenju Tseng (BA Jewellery Design)
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ETAKA, Cecily Cracroft-Eley (BA Fashion: Knitwear)
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Abandoned Grace, Diane Dwyer (MA Narrative Environments)
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Elissa Brunato (MA Material Futures)
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Fredrik Tjærandsen (BA Fashion Womenswear)
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No body, Haemin Ko (MA Character Animation)
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Mael Henaff (MA Material Futures)
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Nicky Francis (MA Character Animation)
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Xiaoying Liang (MA Graphic Communication Design)
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Minh Le (BA Architecture)
