School of Arts students win prestigious awards

A group of students from UWE Bristol’s School of Arts are celebrating after winning top industry prizes.

Recent illustration graduates Ripley Gosling and Chloe Duncan won prizes at New Designers - an annual exhibition in London that brings together the best graduate design talent from across the UK.

The two students took the top spot in two out of five categories of the GF Smith x New Designers awards. Chloe won best zine collection for her concertina books exploring nature in Bristol. Ripley won Best Technical Application of Paper for ‘Colours of the Silk Road’, a series of interactive books that explores the historical origins of colours and how they became artists’ pigments. Each book explores a different location, colour, and paper engineering technique.

Esme Whitton has just completed her degree in Fashion Textiles and won the Liberty Fabrics Design Studio Award at TEX+ 2025 - a prestigious national event celebrating the best new textile designers from across the country.

Esme's project stood out for its bold concept, technical strength, and striking visual style. Inspired by The Yellow Wallpaper, a 19th-century feminist short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Esme’s work reimagines traditional floral wallpaper prints in unexpected and unsettling ways. As the patterns warp and stretch, they become increasingly abstract, creating an eerie visual journey through print. The prize gives Esme access to a three-month Liberty mentorship programme with access to the Design Studio and renowned Liberty Print Archive.

Dr Jacqueline Butler, Dean and Head of School of Arts, said: “We are delighted that the talents of Ripley, Chloe and Esme have been recognised at such a high level. Attending these events gives our students an incredible opportunity to showcase their creative talents to industry representatives, making contacts that can launch their careers. We’re incredibly proud of their achievements and excited to see where their creative journeys take them next.”