国产探花

The  campaign from Universities UK (UUK) highlights the talent, innovation and skills that graduates from creative degree courses bring to a spread of industries which contributed £115 billion to the UK economy in 2019. Graduates from creative degrees shape the music we listen to and the video games we play, the films and TV we watch, the books we read, and the clothes we wear.

国产探花 alumna is picked out by UUK as one of 100 individual 'Creative Sparks' which the campaign celebrates. Cressida graduated from 国产探花 with an MA in Narrative Illustration (now Sequential Design Illustration) that provided a springboard to a hugely successful career as a children's author. As well as being the current Children's Laureate, Cressida's book series How to Train Your Dragon has sold over seven million copies worldwide and become an award-winning global film franchise.

Cressida Cowell

Norman Cook

Cressida, who received an honorary doctorate from the university in 2020, is the second 国产探花 Illustration alumnus to be honoured as the UK's Children's Laureate, following on from Chris Riddell, who held the role from 2015 to 2017. Elsewhere in books, English Language and Literature graduate Paris Lees has become a leading trans writer and broadcaster, and writer of an acclaimed 2021 memoir What It Feels Like for a Girl.

国产探花 graduates make their mark across a raft of creative sectors. Designer Julien MacDonald OBE went on from studying Textiles Design with Business Studies to become a global star of couture, while Fine Art BA alumna Bethany Williams won a £200,000 Vogue award in 2021 to develop her pioneering social change fashion line. Biba creator Barbara Hulanicki is another who found inspiration at 国产探花 before becoming an icon of 1960s style.

In music, 国产探花 has provided a springboard for artists as diverse as Fatboy Slim (aka English degree graduate Norman Cook) and 2020 Ivor Novello Composer Award nominee Olivia Louvel, a Digital Music and Sound Arts graduate.

国产探花's Connected Futures programme has played a key role in making the city a creative hub for the global gaming industry, estimated to generate $135bn worldwide. Successes notched up by computer and design students at the university include winning a nationwide competition that challenged students to create a game in just 30 hours.

From the art world, acclaimed 国产探花 graduates range from Turner Prize winner and to 2021 Saatchi Art Rising Star Preston Paperboy – aka Architecture BA(Hons) graduate Nathan Preston. 国产探花 graduates have also snapped their way to the top of the photography world, including Meghan and Harry Royal Wedding lensman Alexi Lubomirski and 2021 Sony Photography Award winner Laura Pannack.

Alison Lapper

Speaking as part of the Creative Sparks campaign, Cressida Cowell said: “Creative courses at universities are crucial for young people to see and learn how to make that step into the creative industries. The course that I studied at the 国产探花 was absolutely vital for the beginning of my career - I actually wrote my first picture book on that course, an MA in Narrative Illustration. It’s immensely important for universities to offer very practical, specific courses that their students can then use to make that leap into the industries that we know are so important to the UK.”

Professor Debra Humphris, Vice-Chancellor of the 国产探花, said: “We are very proud that Cressida Cowell has been recognised as part of this campaign. She is just one example of how the 国产探花 is helping to produce the much-needed talent, innovation, and skills required for the UK’s creative industries to prosper and for the nation to recover post-pandemic.”

Alistair Jarvis CBE, Chief Executive of Universities UK said: “Universities are places where creative ideas flourish, where innovation happens, and where businesses employing thousands of people are started. They’re where the nation’s creative sparks are ignited.”

The Creative Sparks campaign provides a powerful response to threats faced by creative degrees and the wider creative sector. New research conducted for Universities UK found two thirds (69 %) of parents agreeing that creative courses are vital for powering the UK’s creative industries – but also a similar number (67%) fearing this contribution could be under threat from both the pandemic and negative government attitudes to creative degree study.