We have a winner! I am delighted to announce that after a whopping 16,404 people cast their vote, the winner of the 2015 confessions of a design geek bursary is…. Alicja Patanowska. “I am moved and grateful to all the amazing people from all over the world who believed in my project,” said Alicja.
Alicja works with discarded glassware that she collects from the streets of London in the early hours of the morning, adding hand thrown forms to each one, creating a series of vessels that enable to watch plants grow. Having won the 2015 bursary, she will now receive:
- A complimentary stand at Home London within the bursary area of the New Talent Zone
- Her products stocked at the Southbank Centre Shop for three months and included in the window display
- The chance to participate in a one week pop-up shop at West Elm
- A one-day studio shoot with Yeshen Venema resulting in product, lifestyle and cut-out photography
- A film shoot with R&A Collaborations resulting in a short film
- Monthly mentoring for one year with established artist and designer and founder of HAM, Jo Ham
- One hour mentoring sessions with: October Communications‘ Daniel Nelson re e-commerce, Decorum‘s Justyna Sowa re social media, Mini Moderns‘ Keith Stephenson and Mark Hampshire re stand design, The Design Trust‘s Patricia van den Akker re business coaching, Seen PR‘s David Gorrod re PR, The Southbank Centre’s Adam Thow re working with buyers, and West Elm creative director Vanessa Holden
- One year’s free membership of The Design Trust Business Club
- Six months’ free membership of Press Loft, plus a 20{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} discount thereafter
- The chance to take part in a pre-show mentoring workshop with Daniel, David, Patricia, Keith, Mark, Adam and Jo hosted at West Elm
- 50 LUX business cards, 50 standard business cards and 250 postcards from Goodprint
- Last year’s winner, Fanny Shorter, as a “buddy”
- Coverage on Home London, confessions of a design geek and Front + Main, the West Elm blog
Huge congratulations must also go to the shortlisted designers, Mind the Cork, Above and Beyond and Jacqueline Seifert, who will receive:
- A complimentary stand at Home London within the bursary area of the New Talent Zone
- The chance to participate in a one week pop-up shop at West Elm
- A one-day studio shoot from Yeshen Venema resulting in product, lifestyle and cut-out photography of five products
- A 20{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} discount off a film shoot with R&A Collaborations
- Three months’ free membership of Press Loft, plus a 20{ff546b69e23b1524d799f96c6ba7a638e1f677053b0a2a1568b05315fd5f8fc7} discount thereafter
- The chance to take part in a pre-show mentoring workshop with Daniel, David, Patricia, Keith, Mark, Adam and Jo hosted at West Elm
- 50 standard business cards and 100 postcards from Goodprint
- confessions of a design geek 2013 winner Jessica Hogarth, and 2014 shortlisted designers Nancy Straughan, Annabel Perrin and Taz Pollard as “buddies”
- Coverage on Home London, confessions of a design geek and Front + Main, the West Elm blog
And a huge thank you to the confessions of a design geek judging panel, mentors and partners who make this possible: Ian and Julia at Home London, Adam at the Southbank Centre Shop, Jess at West Elm, Yeshen Venema, R&A Collaborations, Blair at Press Loft, David at Seen PR, Keith and Mark at Mini Moderns, Jo at HAM, Justyna at Decorum, Daniel at October Communications, Patricia at The Design Trust, Ferren at Good Print, Fanny Shorter, Jessica Hogarth, Nancy Straughan, Annabel Perrin and Taz Pollard.
Further reading for the especially geeky: