On Thursday 24 August, Uminova eXpression's summer initiative Summer eXpression ended with a vernissage in Humlab-X at the Arts Campus.
- The students have worked intensively on their respective projects and we have got a very good breadth of both products and design. We are absolutely convinced that this time has given them experience that will help them in their design careers," says Barbro Renkel, Uminova eXpression.
Summer eXpression has been running for six weeks between June and August. During these weeks, the selected students worked closely with local manufacturers, such as GH Carpentry, Norrlands Foundry and LöbeGranit.
- It's an invaluable opportunity to see your ideas become a reality and have a direct link to producing companies, with great support. To experience the complexity of all the stages an idea has to go through before it reaches the final customer, says Margot Barolo from Beckmans Design School who, together with Johan Gustafsson at Struktur Industridesign AB, has been mentoring the participants during the summer.
The students' own designs and products were showcased for the first time during an opening and a number of the creations were also on sale. During the opening, the designers also had the opportunity to talk about their work and the process behind it. Some of the producers were also present.
- I hope that our participants feel strengthened in both their sense of design and their entrepreneurship. Today, it is almost as if you as a designer need to be at least as much an entrepreneur as a designer to succeed," says Barbro Renkel. A number of the students' creations will be on sale at some of the producers involved in the project. There may also be more retailers in the future.
- The response has been very positive and we estimate that we had about a hundred visitors at the opening. We are very pleased and see exciting possibilities for the coming year," concludes Barbro Renkel. The next step will be to evaluate the project with the aim of repeating the Summer eXpression initiative again next summer.
The students who participated, their designs and their producers:
