Great ideas brewing in minds of creative students

Product design student Jack Martin with his home brewing product 'Brau'

However, one undergraduate at Sheffield Hallam University has taken his peers’ love of ale a step further, and created an all-in-one home brewery to replace bulky barrels, buckets and tubes.

Jack Martin’s creation is just one of the exhibits on show at Creative Spark, an exhibition of final year students’ work, which opened on Saturday around Sheffield Hallam University’s city campus buildings.

Fourth-year product design student Mr Martin, 21, said: “In the UK there’s been a trend for craft beer, which has developed into people wanting to do it themselves at home.

“The current systems are bulky and involve buckets, sieves, mesh, that sort of thing.

“But Brau is an all-in-one system which does 95 per cent of the brewing action,” he explained.

Creative Spark brings together the best work from Sheffield Hallam University’s final-year film; fashion; photography; fine art; graphic design; performing arts; metalwork and jewellery; architecture; games development and animation students.

Director of the university’s Sheffield Institute of Arts Professor Sally Wade said: “Sheffield Institute of Arts has origins dating back to 1843 and this year we are especially proud to celebrate 170 years of art and design education in Sheffield.

“The shows are located at a number of venues in the heart of the city’s Cultural Industry Quarter, and reflect the contribution art, design and creative practice continue to make to the region’s rich creative, cultural and commercial economy.”

A spokesman for Sheffield Hallam University said that Creative Spark, now in its eighth year, is a cut above other such exhibitions taking place around the UK.

He said: “There are 80 end-of-year shows in the UK every year, but what sets this apart is that we get industry people in to see the exhibits.

“They can not only offer their endorsement, but also give students advice and make comments on their work.”

One of those who will be exhibiting his work is Chris Redford, who has already won a top industry prize for one of his previous creations.

The 22-year-old was given the top prize at the Royal Society of Art’s (RSA) student design awards 2013 for his design of a domestic washing machine which is designed to be repaired by the consumer without the need for a technician.

At Creative Spark, however, he will be exhibiting a printer which can be mounted on the wall, without taking up valuable desk space in a small room or apartment.

Mr Redford, from Manchester, said: “Instead of having a big black box on your desk, you can put it up on the wall, and it unfolds.

“The washing machine was an exposed design, so you can see how the parts work.

“When you open up the printer, you can see the main components, and in that way it’s like an evolution of the washing machine I designed.”

Before opening to the public, Creative Spark lets industry professionals to take a look at the students’ work.

Principal design lecturer Gordon Young said: “The exhibition gives these guys chance to show their work in front of potential employers.

“So many of our graduates have gone on to work for companies in the region, such as Mamas and Papas in Huddersfield and Morphy Richards in Rotherham, and now they’re making a massive contribution to industry.”

Fashion design student Jasmin Horner, from South London, has her When Man and Machine Collide collection on show.

A key pieces is a dress designed to show the impact of obesity. Huge around the stomach yet fitted around the thighs; the black number shows the contrast between different body shapes.

Miss Horner, 20, said: “I’ve been looking into how society is becoming more reliant on technology.

“There’s a high correlation between obesity and over-reliance on technology, so the dress is big in places and in others it’s quite tight, to show the contrast.”

Visitors can also take a hands-on approach to art by trying on a variety of masks created by student Abigail Horn; and discover how one creative art practice student, Janine Siddall Burton, transformed a room of her council house into art for part of her work.

Creative Spark is free and open until Friday June 21.