Two design graduates from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design have won top prizes at a national awards show.
Naomi Cairns and Naomi McIntosh received plaudits at the 2020 New Designers Awards.
Product Design graduate Naomi Cairns has been awarded the Colour in Design Award for her project Affinity, which uses colour to “combat loneliness”.
Interior Environmental Design graduate Naomi McIntosh won the Creative Conscience and the Business Design Centre for Social Impact Design Award.
New Designers exhibits the work of over 3,000 graduates from around the UK.
The event is normally held in London over two weeks, but went digital this year.
Ms Cairns said: “I am deeply interested in designing products and services to help improve mental health, feelings of loneliness and connection.
“My project uses coloured light to let people connect without the need for words. I began developing this idea before Covid-19, so it was important to me how I could adapt my project to help people connect when we are more isolated than we were before.”
Ms McIntosh said: “Being a mother and the personal challenges I have faced inspired me to design something that would help families. I had researched Dundee’s child poverty crisis for my dissertation the previous semester which involved speaking with families and third sector organisations in the city.
“A few themes arose during my study including extortionate childcare rates locking parents out of employment, children growing up without life skills and access to outdoor play, and families living in isolation without a support network. This motivated me to design a community hub that would address these issues for my thesis project.”
