Design students bring Manchester Day Parade to the New Adelphi

The work, created by Level 5 Film, TV and Stage Design and Costume Design students, is currently in the New Adelphi foyer and has been grabbing lots of attention.

Manchester Day is an annual event that celebrates everything great about the city. It is a day for families, residents and visitors to get together and celebrate all things Mancunian that have made Manchester one of the world’s most iconic cities. Due to the pandemic the parade hasn’t been able to take place, so students have brought a scaled-down version to campus.

Lecturer in the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology Emma Dibb said: “The project started online using visual collaboration tools like Miro to exchange ideas, then we bought the students back into the workshops after Easter.”

Emma arranged for events company Decordia to give the group valuable industry feedback on the designs.

Film, TV and Set Design student Grace Harrison who worked on the project told us it was a “breath of fresh air to get back in the workshop” after working remotely for so long.

She said: “I cannot stress just how helpful the workshops have been this module, all the technical demonstrators patiently explained about the processes and software needed to use certain equipment. This consequently helped to put to rest any doubt or worries I had about how to go about specific things within the model making process.”

Grace described the creative process as a lot of trial and error, which is reflective of working in the industry. She also credited working collaboratively in a group with helping her to overcome issues – her team regularly shared techniques and openly stepped up to help each other out.

“It was a nice change of pace to be able to work collaboratively with the Costume Design students and to see their process too. I was blown away by the quality of their work and their final products, which complimented the sets that my class had designed so well,” she said.

“I am really proud of what we have all been able to achieve in this module and feel that we have all grown considerably as designers.”

Grace said the project helped her find a love for model making and gave her confidence in the area. During the launch of the work, the students were joined by Decordia who gave feedback from an industry point of view.

“Speaking to Decordia helped to humanise the industry and make it considerably less daunting. They are a really good contact to have moving forward when looking for work experience or even work after university,” she continued.

Grace, who considers herself a “history nerd” said she would love to design on the sets of period pieces.

“I think my dream job would be on something like Peaky Blinders – it has a very strong and instantly recognisable aesthetic, with lots of design detail. This is something I really look for.”