Last week, Team bwd were invited for a first look at the University of Salford’s Degree Show for their School of Art and Design before it was open to the public. It was based in their school building at Media City, making the invitation too tempting to turn down!

Not only do we generally enjoy attending design exhibitions, but I think it is important to attend graduate design exhibitions. These are the minds of our potential future employees, our potential future clients, who could help to inspire new outlooks and ideas with their assignment work and fresh minds.

Media City is a beautiful, albeit still unfinished, development upon Salford Quays in Manchester, by the Peel Group. Home to, amongst other things, the BBC, the opportunity to have a nosey around the new buildings was too exciting to pass up!

The range of work on display was very interesting, and we got to chat to some of the students about their projects, but we were more distracted by the University’s building itself! It is clear to see the clean, simple designed building is brand new and therefore has not yet seen too much abuse by pacing students and heavy portfolios. The whole building kept a standard, professional, grey design that you would find in most universities, but each floor held a different colour within the theme.

One of the students from, if I remember correctly (apologies if I’m wrong!), the Interior Design degree created business cards out of clay. I was very impressed. Little details like this are what can make you stand out to potential employers!

We had a brilliant time at Media City, pressing our nosey noses up against BBC glass windows and wandering around the exhibition, and hope to be invited to more end of year shows soon!