It’s that time of year again! The South West Design and Digital Student (SWDDS) Awards are upon us once more, and the clock is ticking for students to enter the competition, with only 10 days left until submissions close on Friday May 14th.

The competition, hosted by us here at Proctor and Stevenson (P+S), offers final-year students studying in the South West of England and South Wales a chance to win amazing prizes for their creative work.

Up for grabs this year, is £4,000 in cash, opportunities for networking, industry exposure, a portfolio review, and a paid work placement with P+S. Not bad eh?

Ten finalists. Three winners. One ‘Ultimate Creative Champion’.

The awards are a chance for students to prove that they’re the best in the South West, and the next up-and-coming stars of the creative industry.

The brief, you ask? There isn’t one.

Students can enter any project – including previous university projects – as long as it falls into one of the below categories and it’s their own work. We’re looking for projects that demonstrate commercial value, meet a market, cultural, and/or social demand, and that showcase how they will be rolled out as a campaign across multiple channels.

Our three categories for this year are:

• Graphic Design: For all things offline, including 2D, 3D, typography and print related.
• Digital Design: For web and digital graphic design projects.
• Motion and AR: For video, animation, XR, VR, AR and 3D graphics.

Our panel of expert judges will carefully select 10 finalists, who will be invited for 25-minute virtual interviews, where they’ll have the opportunity to present their entries, explain their thinking behind the projects and why they’re deserving of the prize, and also receive a portfolio review of their wider body of work. Last year’s projects were exceptional; you can check out the 2020 finalists’ projects here.

Out of our 10 finalists, 3 lucky winners will be selected, announced at our digital awards ceremony on June 10th.

All 3 winners will be awarded £1,000, with one crowned as our 2021 Ultimate Creative Champion, and granted an extra £3,000! Any of our 10 finalists could also be selected for a paid 3-month work placement with us here at P+S.

Meet the judges

We pick the crème de la crème of the industry to judge our awards. Ready to meet this year’s line up?

• Chris Roberts, Creative Director of Dyson.  Chris returns as Chair of our judging panel. Responsible for managing Dyson’s global brand image and identity, he’s in charge of their worldwide reputation. In true testament to his talent – and our keen eye for recognising it – Chris was a winner of the original P+S SWDDS Awards back in 1994!
• ‍Nema Hart, Senior Relationship Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Arts Council England South West. Nema has led small, large, and million-pound regional, national and international projects within the arts and technology space – including London’s Creative Economy Programme. Plus, her organisation, Submerge, encourages employment and entrepreneurialism, providing a platform for graduates, researchers and innovators to celebrate, network and promote their skills to industry. This is the second year Nema will be joining our judging panel. ‍
• Charles Golding, Senior Creative, Hello Charlie. Charles worked for P+S during his graphic design degree at London’s LCC. With many years’ experience in digital media, his expertise ranges wide across many fields including filmmaking and interactive design. He now works for creative agency Hello Charlie as well as recently establishing a small non-profit organisation, Cargo Movement, that works to increase diversity and representation within education and media.‍

• Giulia Kapp, Head of Marketing, Daikin UK. From marketing strategy to customer engagement, communications, and way beyond. Giulia has both deep and wide-ranging experience in the B2B and B2C markets, but her specialist expertise lies in sustainability, the built environment and low-carbon technology sectors‍
• Katie Elvins, Senior Designer, P+S. A ‘Young Designer of the Year’ finalist in The Drum Awards, Katie knows a thing or two about style with substance. Katie has worked her magic for clients that include The Open University, South West Water, Prysmian Group and Effat. A typography specialist, Katie has built her own design business alongside the work she does for P+S – so she’s as entrepreneurially savvy as she is visually talented.‍
• Tim Price, Head of Video and Motion Graphics, P+S. Tim leads our talented video and motion team at Proctors. Some days he’s leading high-profile motion projects for renowned clients such as Panasonic, UKHO, MOD, Prysmian…and Satish Kumar. Other days he’s directing blow up polar bears, unwittingly casting Fireman Sam or trying to keep pace filming international rugby stars. ‍
• Emma Collins, Creative Consultant, Executive Leadership and Team Coach, Collins & Co. Previously MD of Bristol design agency Home, Emma went on to set up her own business in 2006, aimed at helping creatives and agencies flourish. She later established Spike Design the Design Buddy programme and Weekend Gallery, and was previous Chair of the West of England Design Forum.

Let’s show the world what the South West and South Wales are made of

Powered by P+S, and sponsored by Bristol-based printers Taylor Brothers, the awards were launched by our very own MD Roger Proctor, as part of his ongoing campaign to tackle how institutions approach design education.

Over the years, Rog had noticed something about design graduates leaving university: often they had exceptional talent, but no commercial experience. A big problem, when creating a commercially-viable concept that clients and customers will buy into is half the job!

Frustrated by the lack of culture and creativity funding anywhere west of London, he also wanted to do something to celebrate local talent. The South West and South Wales are bursting with creative flair, with their vibrant cities, bustling creative networks, and brimming art venues.

Plus, the awards are specifically designed to be as accessible as possible. We know a lot of students have limited free time –especially those who need to work alongside their degree – so they can choose to enter an already existing project from their course.

Find out more

To make sure you don’t miss any of our updates, like our Facebook page and register your interest here. Our FAQs page is also a handy resource – and if you haven’t already, check out last year’s winners for some hints and tips.

Drop us a line at [email protected]if you have any questions, or to find out more.

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