denny Architectural Art & Design

Nine young designers from across the North have been named winners in the Northern Design Competition 2009, hosted by Leeds Met. An awards ceremony was held on 18 June in the University's flagship building, The Rose Bowl with special guest Ricky Wilson, Leeds Met alumnus and Kaiser Chiefs frontman, returning to the University to award the prize for Young Northern Designer. The overall winner - the Maurice Miller Northern Design Champion - as chosen by chair of judges, Red or Dead founder Wayne Hemingway, was Leeds University student Emily Dick with her entry Oh I do like to be beside the seaside (Clarence Pier) after she was named winner of the photography category. Emily, 21, from Warwick, said: "I am genuinely shocked to have won the category let alone the overall prize. It's so important for people to get their pride in Britain back and that's what my entry was about. It's also important to have a competition like this in the north and show people that there are top designers outside London. This event acts as a voice for all designers in the north." Jamie Shek from the University of Dundee won the Digital Media category with iGiveADamn and was also presented with the Thompson Real World Prize, a new prize in association with Thompson Brand Partners, the exhibition sponsors. The prize, judged by company founder Ian Thompson, seeks to find "the exhibited entry that would most likely change the world if made a reality." Young Northern Designer, a new category for this ...