Charlotte Greenwood was awarded the Final Year Student award for her work, whilst first year student Zoha Javed was crowned the Birmingham City University winner of the challenge.

This year, the brief was to design patterns for either hard and soft furnishings, walls and flooring or accessories for a restaurant in a luxury hotel, or for a show home where buyers look for an aspirational lifestyle. The colour palettes were restricted for each scenario and students were encouraged to learn more about digital printing technology, particularly in ways that combine techniques and processes to create original work.

Heather Kendle, market development manager at Epson Europe, says: “When assessing the final year degree show for Epson, we are looking at how students are incorporating print into their thinking, but also want to see a breadth of thinking and original interpretation.

“Charlotte's work incorporates elements of origami and is very precise in its execution, which complements the quality of Epson print. Her laser cutting, pleating and alignment of print with these techniques created some unusual pieces and demonstrated a good eye for detail.”

Kelly-Marie Sifleet, senior technical demonstrator at Birmingham City University, says: “We use Epson SureColor SC-F dye sublimation and direct-to-garment printers in the textiles department and students are encouraged to use digital print effectively.

“The Epson project enables them to learn a great deal about colour and register and to discover how easy the equipment is to use and how it opens up creative opportunities. The work produced was exceptional and Zoha was a very worthy winner.”

The annual project started as an extra-curricular competition but proved so successful that it is now an incorporated part of the university’s first year module.

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