The academic year is off to a great start for one Design Crafts student at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), who starts a two-week placement with supermarket giant Sainsbury’s today.
Sarah Jane Charlton, who is in her final year at DMU, is spending two weeks with the Sainsbury’s design team at their Coventry headquarters.
With opportunities to work both on textiles and home accessories, Sarah said: “I’ve never done anything like this before so I’m feeling both excited and nervous.
“I’m really looking forward to doing some computer aided design (CAD) too, which will be a great experience.”
Sarah is one of five Design Crafts students who pitched their ideas to Sainsbury’s in May, for a chance to win the sought-after work placement.
As part of their course, the students were presented with a brief to design either home accessories, or objects for a table-top or bedroom.
Embracing the ‘harmony’ theme of the brief set by Sainsbury’s, Sarah designed a range of six home furnishings in a muted colour palette.
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She experimented with different textiles such as knitted, silk and embroidered fabric, together with unusual tie-dyeing techniques like the Japanese shibori method.
As well as being impressed by her designs, the team at Sainsbury’s also enjoyed Sarah’s ‘clear and concise’ thought-process during her presentation.
Sarah said: “I really wasn’t expecting to win as everyone else who was shortlisted is so talented!”
Senior Design Crafts lecturer, Jane Prosser, said: “It’s fantastic that our students have the opportunity to work with a widely-recognised brand, providing useful professional context for them.
“The university’s long-standing relationship with Sainsbury’s has resulted in many fruitful work placements for students, which in the past have also led to job offers and graduates’ designs developed and sold.”
Posted on Monday 12 September 2016