<p><strong>Read on to discover a handful of the projects from our graduating students looking to tackle the issues that matter most to them...</strong></p>

<h5><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-graphic-design" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BA (HONS) GRAPHIC DESIGN </a>- Thyra Bankole - <a href="https://www.melanatedzine.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Melanated Magazine</a></h5> <p><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-graphic-design" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BA (Hons) Graphic Design</a> student Thyra Bankole has created Melanated Magazine, a print publication designed to showcase and highlight women of colour in the UK creative industry. 21-year-old Thyra, who grew up in Greenwich, London, hopes that Melanated Magazine can act as a catalyst for change by creating exposure that leads to more work being commissioned from women of colour, as well as giving young women of colour access to a wider range of role models in the creative industries.</p> <p>Speaking of the genesis of the idea, Thyra said: “Until we’re more visible at every level of the creative industries, there’ll always be a need for more work to showcase women of colour. Melanated Magazine is my contribution to the national conversation that we need to have about valuing the hard work of black woman and showing role models for the next generation hoping to enter the industry.”</p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/melanated.zine/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Follow Thyra on Instagram</a>.</p>

<h5><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-illustration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BA (HONS) ILLUSTRATION </a> - Amy Ottley – Ruby Box</h5> <p>BA (Hons) Illustration student Amy Ottley has created ‘Ruby Box’ for the 2019 Degree Shows, a vibrant menstrual subscription service that would include a subscriber donation to the period poverty organisation Bloody Good Period. The overall project includes illustrations, packaging and branding for vitamins, herbal teas and chocolate, and a period friendly yoga guide.</p> <p>Inspired by research into the severity and growing rates of period poverty in the UK, ‘Ruby Box’ is designed to deliver everything a woman would need for her period and is named after the girl who gave Amy her first sanitary pad when she found herself unprepared in their school bathroom. For every Ruby Box purchased, the concept includes funding for a secondary basic ‘Ruby Box’ that would be sent to Bloody Good Period for distribution in shelters across London and Leeds.</p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/ottleyillustration/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Follow Amy on Instagram</a>.</p>

<h5><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-interior-design" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BA (HONS) INTERIOR DECORATION, DESIGN &amp; STYLING</a> - Anna Wycliffe-Jones - Inclusive Home Living</h5> <p>Anna’s designs for an accessible home for the elderly are carefully considered and delicately subtle, with a focus on design for social impact. With the aim to allow the older generation to age with dignity in their own homes, her thorough research and case studies have allowed her to discreetly integrate solutions to anticipated issues such as deteriorating sight and mobility.</p> <p>By designing a bespoke product for one of her case study subjects, allowing him to indulge in his love of reading despite no longer being able to hold a book, Anna’s passion for designing to improve quality of life shines through.</p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/annawycliffe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Follow Anna on Instagram</a>.</p>

<h5><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-graphic-design" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BA (HONS) GRAPHIC DESIGN </a> - Fiona Melville - <a href="http://www.womantowoman.me.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Woman to Woman</a></h5> <p>For the 2019 Degree Shows, BA (Hons) Graphic Design student Fiona Melville is fundraising to provide personal alarms for homeless women in Plymouth, using her graphic design skills to raise awareness of the issue of violence and sexual violence against homeless women, in response to the recorded increase in homelessness across the UK. With a campaign titled ‘Woman to Woman’, Fiona is collaborating with Shekinah, a Devon and Cornwall based charity that provides opportunities for people in recovery or seeking recovery, including recovery from homelessness, and with The Zone, a Plymouth-based charity that provides free and confidential information and support to young people.</p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/womantowomanplymouth/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Follow Fiona on Instagram</a>.</p>

<h5><a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-textile-design" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BA (HONS) TEXTILE PRACTICES </a> - Charlotte Venn - Divine Feminine</h5> <p>‘Divine Feminine’ is a collection of printed textiles celebrating the strength and beauty of the female form.</p> <p>In art history, painting ‘the female nude’ has been a primarily male-dominated past time. As highlighted by anonymous activists ‘The Guerrilla Girls’: “Less than 5% of the artists in the modern art section of the Met are women, but 85% of the nudes are female”.</p> <p>This collection aims to regain the female nude back to the female artist: liberating our ‘imperfect’ bodies through textile design. ‘Divine Feminine’ explores abstract painting techniques to deliver bold and expressive prints that reflect modern femininity and the glorious female nude.</p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/venntextiledesign/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Follow Charlotte on Instagram</a>.</p>