Ex-Itchen student has a Design for Life
Ex-Itchen student Jess Viana is displaying her design talents in the new television series Design for Life which sees budding British designers compete for a prestigious six month work placement in Paris with world renowned designer Philippe Starck.
The prime time BBC series, in the same format as The Apprentice, follows twelve budding designers as they undertake difficult design challenges and compete to win the coveted place at Starck’s design school. A lot is expected from them as they were selected from the hundreds of designers who applied for this prestigious role.
One of the candidates is ex-Itchen student Jess Viana from Southampton. With aspirations of becoming a designer, Jess studied A levels in Art and Design, Design and Technology and Graphical Communication, gaining two grade As and a B before going onto university to study product design. Itchen’s Art department are thrilled that Jess was successful in gaining a place on the show and, to recognise her achievement, invited her back to Itchen to present her with an Oscar, the award aspired to by all Itchen’s Art, English and Media students.
Said Jess, “I applied to Design for Life for the opportunity to learn from one of the most famous designers in the World and when I found out I was successful I was so excited and very happy! I wasn’t expecting a yes and I was concerned about what I was going to pack and how many shoes to take! I didn’t believe they’d choose me, and to find out later that Starck did the choosing was amazing.”
The first task, shown in episode one, was very challenging; five candidates, including Jess, failed to impress Starck and were given just ten minutes to re-do the task or face being sent home. Said Jess, “I still remember that first presentation - it was difficult. I had to pull something out of the bag and impress Starck to show him what I was capable of. It was as nerve-wracking as taking my driving test. ” Jess managed to succeed in the retake of the task and Itchen’s Art department will be keenly following her progress on the show.
Design for Life can be seen on BBC2 on Mondays at 9pm and is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
October 2009