BA (Hons) Illustration for Commercial Application student Amelie Smith is the recipient of this year’s Illustration Achievement Award. This award is given to the student who has shown an exceptional attitude within their practice, commitment to their studies, and a positive influence within the cohort.

Lecturers commented, “Amelie is a student who arrived working at a high standard but, through conscientious engagement with the processes taught in the programme, has developed not only into an exceptional illustrator but has also pushed her boundaries into art direction, editing and design. She is always one of the leading voices within the cohort and has taken charge of projects when in a group environment with professionalism and, as importantly, kindness. Her final project has seen her collect essays from a number of creators across the globe and pull them together into a fabulous outcome in the form of ‘EDITOR NOISE’.”

Amelie, 21 years old, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, said, “I felt extremely honoured to receive this award, especially since there are so many other hard-working and talented people on my course. I feel really proud of myself for the work I’ve created over the past three years to get me to this point.”

For her Final Major Project, Amelie created a film-based magazine, “as a way to explore my love of thematic and conceptual design and my love of film. The magazine, ‘EDITOR NOISE’, contains a variety of multimedia illustrations, from lino printing and pencil illustration to digital art, as well as an exploration of formatting, design and layout.”

“I wanted to make the magazine as a way to platform the voices of young filmmakers and young creative people who, like me, are inspired by film and cinema within their creative practice and will pioneer the next generation of cinematic craft and filmmaking. The magazine contains various reviews, articles and interviews, with each written piece having a strong and unique visual identity that reflects its genres, themes and subject matter. This project has been the most important to my practice and my career so far, and I’m excited for what is yet to come with EDITOR NOISE.”

Reflecting on her time on the course, Amelie said, “I loved every part of my course. The lecturers are incredibly supportive and the projects we complete throughout our time of study allow us to explore so many different industries and practices within illustration, while allowing us to stay true to our styles and preferences. I especially enjoyed the opportunities we had to connect with clients through projects and participate in live briefs. This gave me an understanding of professional industry practice, as well as critique and development within my work. Participating in these types of projects has helped me to create work I’m extremely proud of and I know will support my portfolio as I move into professional practice.”

She commended her fellow illustrators for making her time at the School a positive experience, saying, “I have a lot of memories from my time at NSA that I love, but they are all defined by meeting an incredibly talented and supportive group of illustrators within my course, both fellow students and lecturers. It’s been amazing working alongside each other over the past three years, going on trips and finding a community.”

Recently, Amelie received an award for her work. She said, “I received a Longlist Award in the World Illustration Awards for a conceptual advertising project I completed at the end of my second year, which is also very special to me. Receiving that award was a great way to close out my time at The Northern School of Art.”

When asked what her advice would be to future students, she said, “To take on every opportunity that comes your way and connect with your fellow creatives. The three years you have will fly by, but you will meet and get to know so many amazingly creative people and build your own network before you even think about leaving.”