D&AD New Blood

26-27th June, Old Billingsgate, London

Bombarded by what I’m sure is well over the national average of visual communication messages in one place, this was certainly the place to be to see the up and coming talent within the design scene in the UK. Overwhelming doesn’t cover it.

To be able to see what other people, students can accomplish was an absolutely phenomenal experience. You cannot help but be inspired when viewing other peoples work – you would be lying is you didn’t have thoughts as to how you may have done their work differently, use a similar concept in your own work or at best see why certain ideas and executions may not have worked. With the work predominantly produced by 3rd year and postgraduate students, it really helped focus my attention as to the of the standard of work and quality of execution I should be aiming for in the future, which as a second year student, I am still trying to master.

It would be an impossible task to highlight a particular piece of work that inspired me, as for me the inspiration was not necessarily so tangible. One of the most notable things of all was the actual quality of the work. The work was unbelievably professional and well done, you could easily imagine seeing it on billboards around London, or in Adshell’s across the country, it was amazing. Above all, it has fuelled my personal determination somewhat; all the work was by students, just like me. It is not to say that I wasn’t bothered, or passionate before going to the exhibition, it has merely given me an indication as to realm of possibilities of what a student, what I can do – and there’s no going back.