Dezeen School Shows: a project utilising fish skins, seaweed and fruit pulp to create compostable textiles is among the design projects from students at Arts University Plymouth.
Also featured is a housing concept for refugee families in Plymouth, UK, and a women’s creative community centre.
Arts University Plymouth
Institution: Arts University Plymouth
Courses: BA (Hons) Graphic Design, BA (Hons) Illustration, BA (Hons) Interior Design and Styling, BA (Hons) Fashion Design and BA Hons Textile Design
Tutors: Amy Pike, Sam Rowe, Benjamin Wright, Ally Turner, Cathryn Bishop, Heather Martin and Emma Gribble
School statement:
“Arts University Plymouth is one of the UK’s top creative universities, ranked second nationally for student satisfaction (NSS 2024), second for teaching excellence (Daily Mail University Guide 2025), and University of the Year for South West England (WUSCAs 2024).
“Our city-centre campus offers over 13,000 metres-squared of industry-standard studios, labs and workshops, home to Fab Lab South West, a leading hub for digital innovation.
“From hot glass and ceramics to VR, AR and motion-capture, students access cutting-edge tools and Adobe Creative Cloud from day one.
“Named second in the UK for facilities and third for student support (WUSCAs 2024), our environment combines world-class resources with expert teaching and a collaborative studio culture.
“Courses are led by active professionals and built around real-world briefs, preparing students to lead across creative industries.
“With top-five national rankings across teaching, support and facilities, and third in the UK for interior design (The Guardian 2025), we equip graduates to think boldly, make brilliantly and thrive in a fast-changing world.”
Wiggle by Matthew Essery
“Matthew Essery is a graphic designer exploring the intersections of typography, product design and emotional storytelling.
“After joining Arts University Plymouth through the extended BA pathway, he developed a distinctive, experimental practice grounded in material play.
“His graduate project, Wiggle, began as a sculptural typeface and evolved into a modular identity system, applied to kinetic installations, 3D-printed furniture and flame-reactive products.
“Fusing Swiss modernism with sensory experience, Essery’s portfolio includes branding for ethical fashion startups, a mental health app and bioplastic innovation.
“He brings curiosity, technical skill and empathy to every brief, designing with both feeling and function in mind.”
Student: Matthew Essery
Course: Extended BA (Hons) Graphic Design
Tutor: Amy Pike
Email: machewdesigns[at]gmail.com
Evolve by Heather Clarke
“Heather Clarke is a fashion and portrait photographer capturing the raw edge of youth culture with a bold, unfiltered lens.
“Her graduate series Evolve blends high-contrast lighting, close-up composition and immersive creative direction to deliver images that feel at once intimate and explosive.
“Influenced by streetwear, subcultures and the dynamism of live environments, Clarke works across digital and analogue formats, often fusing both to achieve punchy, stylised realism.
“Whether shooting for magazines, events or campaigns, her process is rooted in connection, forging trust with her subjects to reveal energy, attitude and truth.”
Student: Heather Clarke
Course: BA (Hons) Commercial Photography
Tutor: Gabriel Van Ingen
Email: heatherclarkephoto[at]hotmail.com
Aquarelle by Emily Woodall
“Emily Woodall’s graduate collection, Aquarelle, channels childhood nostalgia through slow fashion, blending myth, memory and materiality.
“Inspired by the sea and mermaid folklore, her garments feature fluid silhouettes and iridescent layers.
“Committed to sustainable, ethical practice, Emily champions circular values through small-batch, season-less production and hands-on construction.
“She joined Arts University Plymouth on an Extended Diploma in Fashion and Textiles, before progressing to BA (Hons) Fashion Design.
“During a sandwich year, she worked at Butterwalk in Totnes, contributing to in-house label NAAi NAAi. Her work merges storytelling with small-batch craft, shaped by influences like Ganni and Molly Goddard.”
Student: Emily Woodall
Course: BA (Hons) Fashion Design
Tutor: Heather Martin
Sorella Women’s Club by Carmen Oppermann
“Carmen Oppermann’s Sorella Women’s Club reimagines the listed Melville building at Royal William Yard, Plymouth, as a women-only social and creative hub.
“Developed through feminist spatial theory and trauma-informed design, the concept includes a bar and lounge, child-friendly zones and flexible workshop spaces.
“The interiors blend curved geometries, rich textiles and layered lighting to create a sense of sanctuary, agency and connection.
“Oppermann’s practice focuses on emotional resonance and community engagement.
“She was part of the Arts University Plymouth team that won the 2024 BIID Student Design Challenge and recently gained hands-on styling experience at Sea Space Hotel.”
Student: Carmen Oppermann
Course: BA (Hons) Interior Design and Styling
Tutors: Ally Turner and Cathryn Bishop
Email: carmenjoyce.design[at]gmail.com
Iteration by Max Golley
“Max Golley is a multi-disciplinary artist and fashion designer whose work investigates how clothing has become disconnected from its origins in the natural cycles of growth, decay and renewal.
“His graduate collection, Iteration, uses acquired and damaged garments as a foundation for creative transformation.
“Drawing on organic shapes and textures, Golley ‘re-crafts’ each piece through a unique mending process using 100 per cent woollen knit.
“The result is an interplay of structure and softness that preserves the story of each garment while giving it new life. Iteration champions repair as both material practice and narrative act, a conversation between form and function.”
Student: Max Golley
Course: BA (Hons) Fashion Design
Tutor: Heather Martin
Email: max.goleey[at]gmail.com
Share The Sky by Chloe Yasmin
“Share The Sky is a poetic author-illustrated picture book by Chloe Yasmin, exploring emotional connection through a lighthouse and shared night sky.
“Set in a seaside town, the narrative uses hand-rendered textures and lyrical text to evoke memory, place and imagination.
“Yasmin’s practice blends traditional media with digital composition, guided by a love of storytelling, nature and childhood wonder.
“Inspired by her life in Devon, her work is tender, playful and richly layered. Chloe creates authorial and freelance projects spanning children’s books and personal storytelling”.
Student: Chloe Yasmin
Course: BA (Hons) Illustration
Tutors: Phil Trenerry and Benjamin Wright
Email: chloeyasminillustrationa[at]gmail.com
Feminine by Nature by Zoe Brown
“Zoe Brown is a fashion and editorial photographer based in the South West of England, whose graduate project, Feminine by Nature, explores the intrinsic connection between femininity, nature and identity.
“Captured through fashion photography and shot on location, the series is inspired by ecofeminism, myth and female archetypes, framing softness, strength and emotional depth as powerful, intertwined traits.
“Influenced by fairytale nostalgia and contemporary storytelling, Brown creates poetic editorial imagery that balances conceptual direction with meticulous attention to detail.
“Her shoots often centre women in natural settings, using costume and gesture to symbolise resilience, beauty and transformation.”
Student: Zoe Brown
Course: BA (Hons) Commercial Photography
Tutor: Gabriel Van Ingen
Email: zoebrown182[at]gmail.com
The Good Grief Hub by Elena Faulkner
“Elena Faulkner’s Good Grief Hub is a compassionate interior concept inspired by the Good Grief Trust. The scheme incorporates trauma-informed design principles to create a comforting, non-clinical space that encourages emotional healing and human connection.
“The centre includes a communal cafe, counselling rooms, yoga and meditation studios and residential accommodation, blending hospitality and care with strong community purpose.
“An indoor garden supports horticultural therapy, while soft materials and lighting invite reflection. Faulkner combines styling flair with inclusive design.
“Faulkner has completed placements with BBH Chartered Architects and The Window Dresser, strengthening her eye for detail and material choice.”
Student: Elena Faulkner
Course: BA (Hons) Interior Design and Styling
Tutors: Ally Turner and Cathryn Bishop
Email: elenafaulknerinteriors[at]gmail.com
Finsilk by Jo Nudd
“Jo Nudd is a textile designer pioneering bioregional approaches to sustainable material design. Her graduate project, Finsilk, reimagines food and marine waste – fish skins, seaweed and fruit pulp – as compostable textiles, including dyed yarns, biodegradable sheet materials and translucent lighting.
“Partnering with Fab Lab South West, she has developed open-source fibre extrusion tools to enable circular textile making.
“Drawing on traditional dye processes and cottage-industry thinking, Nudd applies a nose-to-tail philosophy that eliminates waste and embraces local materials.
“Finsilk is both a material proposal and a systems rethink, offering a low-impact, high-ingenuity alternative to industrial textile production.”
Student: Jo Nudd
Course: Extended BA (Hons) Textile Design
Tutor: Emma Gribble
Email: madebyjnudd[at]gmail.com
New Horizons Apartments by Mia Zacharkiw
“Mia Zacharkiw is an interior designer and stylist focused on creating emotionally resonant, user-centred spaces that support social change. Her New Horizons Apartments project is a trauma-informed housing concept for refugee families resettling in Plymouth.
“Drawing on principles of inclusive and therapeutic design, the apartment complex includes flexible accommodation for different family sizes, alongside shared amenities like a community kitchen, play spaces and wellness areas.
“Using AutoCAD, SketchUp and Photoshop, Zacharkiw developed immersive visuals and technical packs that prioritise safety, dignity and calm.
“Her work blends Scandinavian minimalism with a sensitive approach to colour, light and texture.”
Student: Mia Zacharkiw
Course: BA (Hons) Interior Design and Styling
Tutors: Ally Turner and Cathryn Bishop
Email: miazacharkiw[at]gmail.com
Partnership content
This school show is a partnership between Dezeen and Arts University Plymouth. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.
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