News

Notts most creative go head to head

Around 100 city firms entered the awards and about 40 have made it through to the shortlist.
They will compete against each other in ten categories and one will be named Creative Business of the Year at an awards ceremony on September 7 at The Council House.
Judges felt they could make no award in the Fashion & Textiles category.

Now in their third year, the awards celebrate the city's creative sector which enhances Nottingham's profile as a creative city of national and international importance.
They aim to recognise and celebrate the successes achieved by businesses and individuals working in the city's creative industries and raise Nottingham's profile as a hotbed of globally influential talent.

Chairman of this year's awards, David Robinson, president of competitive swimwear specialists Speedo International, thanked this year's entrants and sponsors.
"This year has proved to be another challenging year for the judges because of the high quality of entries.

"Every year the standard improves, highlighting Nottingham's wealth of talent and it's position as a highly credible cultural capital". David Robinson said.
"This event was the ideal opportunity to give the shortlisted entrants the chance to meet the sponsors of their award and thank them for their support as without their help the awards would not be able to take place every year.

"The awards ceremony will be a fantastic evening to showcase the creative talent Nottingham has to offer and to recognise and celebrate the best of Nottingham's creative businesses'
Judging took place two weeks ago to decide the three finalists in each of the eleven award categories.

Heading up the judging was Ann Priest who is head of the College for Art, Design and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University.
She has considerable experience in the fashion industry, having worked for a variety of fashion houses such as Mulberry and high street retailer Wallis.

Among the judges was Andrew Cooper, founder and organiser of the first Nottingham Creative Business Awards and who co-founded the Nottingham Visual Arts, an online magazine and directory devoted to the review and celebration of Nottingham's burgeoning visual art scene.

Director of Nottingham Contemporary Alex Farquharson also joined the panel. He is curator and a critic of contemporary art by background. He has worked in a freelance capacity in Europe and USA and as an exhibitions director.

SHORLISTED Entrants


WRITING & PUBLISHING

Empty Bed Blues by Stephen Lowe

Stephen has worked as actor, director, artistic director as well as playwright. His plays have appeared at London's Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as work premiered at most of England's leading repertory theatres His work has been published, translated and performed throughout the world. One of his most recent works, Empty Bed Blues based on events in DH Lawrence's life just before his death was premiered at Lakeside Arts Centre in March 2009 and has been described as one of Stephen Lowe's finest works.


Dragon Breath Theatre

Dragon Breath is an independent professional theatre company that makes theatre with and for young people. They create innovative, epic, poetic, visual theatre responding to, and challenging, young people's perceptions of the world. Their productions reflect young people's authentic voices, and are researched with children, teachers, university students, artists and scientists over many months during the development of each play.


LeftLion Magazine

LeftLion Magazine is an independent culture and entertainments publication covering the Nottinghamshire region. The content is put together by a dedicated team of voluntary contributors and recently celebrated its fifth birthday. Past interviews have included Alan Sillitoe, Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Paul Smith, amongst many others.


FILM & TV

Richard Graham - Film & TV Editor

Richard's recent work with director Shane Meadows - 'Somers Town'

Fourmost Films

Providing High Definition video production services and training nationwide. Fourmost Films was founded by Actor/Producer Tim Smith in 2005.Having begun his media career as a professional actor in television, film and radio,
Tim now enjoys all aspects of media production. He has accumilated over 12 years professional experience working in the industry with various credits to his name including: Dream Team (Sky One), Hollyoaks (Chanel 4), Holby City (BBC) and The Bill (ITV) Tim is your first port of call when contacting Fourmost Films; he will be the man to see your project through to completion - from the first day of filming to the final cut, and everything in between.


The Television Workshop

The Television Workshop develops and trains young people through regional drama workshops, and provides a resource for stage, screen, radio and new media.
The Television Workshop is committed to promoting social and life skills for young people throughout all its teaching and operations.

It is strategically driven by a Board of Directors representing the highest level of knowledge and expertise in the Television and Film industry, with a particular emphasis and commitment to the development of young talent.


VISUAL ARTS

Tether

Tether are a studio and artist group run by Liam Aitken, Hugh Dichmont, Benjamin Hargrave, Chie Hosaka & Samuel Mercer, who all graduated from Nottingham Trent University in July 2007. The studio also includes practitioners from other backgrounds, whose interests range from curation, performance and fine arts. Over the past year Tether have been documenting their projects and collaborations through video, the filmed material forming part of 'Tethervision': an online video archive offering interviews with artists, documentaries on art-related topics, specifically commissioned video works and other original programming.


Moot Gallery

Established in 2005, Moot has come to be recognised as one of the most important independent galleries in the East Midlands. Since its inception, Moot has grown at an unprecedented rate rising to prominence in the region and making a significant and respected impression within the national circuit of independent and artist-led initiatives. Last year, Moot was selected as one of the top five Upcoming Galleries by The Times newspaper and one of the top 10 Galleries by the Independent newspaper.


Music & Performing Arts

Dance4

An internationally recognised, experimental dance organisation.
A unique voice in the UK dance sector, our work supports artists and practitioners who are interested in the development of dance within performance and learning environments.


Lakeside Arts Centre

Lakeside is the University of Nottingham's public arts centre comprising the Djanogly Art Gallery, Djanogly Recital Hall, D H Lawrence Pavilion, workshop spaces, an Artist-in-Residence Studio and 2 cafes. Lakeside has rapidly developed a reputation for delivering a year-round, high quality diverse programme of exhibitions, performing and participatory arts.
Lakeside has played a key role in the establishment of the East Midlands Children's Theatre Consortium, dedicated to bringing international work for children and families to the region.


Nottingham Playhouse

Nottingham Playhouse Trust is a not-for-profit
organisation and a registered charity. For 60 years they have been producing bold and thrilling theatre that is world-class, made in Nottingham, and as diverse as the local community. Through their world famous education company, Roundabout, they also take smaller plays and groundbreaking educational workshops into schools and colleges throughout the region.


ARCHITECTURE URBAN & INTERIOR DESIGN

Michon

Building clear, consistent and successful brands is a core part of everything they do. With the right blend of talented designers, marketers, and copywriters, they have grown from strength to strength to become a full service agency with clients who've been with them for over 15 years.


Look4Ideas

Look4ideas LED Lighting is a UK company based in Nottingham dedicated to bringing the very latest in LED lighting equipment and services to our customers. We provide LED lighting ideas, products and solutions for interior and exterior decorations, stage and urban applications.


CRAFTS

Katrin Moye Ceramics

Katrin Moye designs and makes wheel thrown decorative domestic ware, made from earthenware clay and hand decorated with coloured slips. The surface patterns and colours used are mainly inspired by textiles such as vintage clothes, period interiors and soft furnishings. Katrin is interested in the connections and emotions evoked by 'retro' patterns and several of her designs are based on her memories of items such as picture books, handmade clothes, and everyday paraphernalia from her childhood.


Ingrid Pears Hot Glass Studio

Contemporary blown glass gallery and workshop selling designer made bespoke glass items. All glass on sale can be seen being made on the premises, from perfumes bottles, vases to glass art. Commissions undertaken and courses in glass making available for all levels of experience.


Lustre

Each year in November, Lakeside is delighted to host Lustre, a prestigious event in the contemporary craft calendar. Featuring top quality work by fifty five selected UK designer makers this is a key diary date for anyone interested in discovering unique pieces of jewellery, textiles, ceramics, glass, wood and metalwork. It's the perfect buying opportunity for festive shoppers and serious collectors alike.


PHOTOGRAPHY

Photo Nottingham

Set against the backdrop of Nottingham's ever changing city centre, Photographer and Managing Director Stuart McIntyre has nurtured the business into what it is today- a thriving, fully equipped studio and showroom in the heart of the town.
Working with a dedicated team of assistants, Stuart has kept his strict ethics of a personal service and no hard sell. It is a testament to this that the majority of our new work comes through personal recommendation from previous clients.


Spike Photography

'Fresh, creative ideas, transformed into eyecatching, pressworthy pictures, delivered on time, with friendly, helpful and reliable service and a no-quibble guarantee' - that is Spike Photography's mission. This proactive approach means clients return to Spike Photography year after year, when they need the very best photography in Nottingham and the East Midlands. An unrivalled ability to get along with people at all levels, from MD to OAP, and strong creative input, ensures Spike Photography captures images packed with character and style.


Scene Photography

Scene is a partnership of two renowned professional photographers: Chris Burks and Rob Smalley.
Chris and Rob work both together and independently, each specialising in their own area of studio and location photography - from fashion and lifestyle photography to room sets, interiors and architecture.
The pair work nationally and locally from their spacious photography studio in the heart of Nottingham. And with high demand for Chris and Rob's varied photographic repertoire in the capital, Scene also hire exceptional studio spaces in London whenever necessary.


GRAPHICS & ADVERTISING

Cubic

Cubic produces intelligent graphic design. Cubic believe effective design can be a powerful business tool. Working on a new brand identity for the Nottingham-based international digital arts festival Radiator, Cubic's design for the logo, promotional brochure and branding across the website, signage, displays resulted in overwhelming attendance levels at the festival. The brochure has been nominated for a leading design award.


Nick Chaffe

Nick is a freelance graphic designer who has worked with some of the best people in the graphic design business. His work focuses on art direction, branding, typography and illustration. His recent projects include brand identity for Jam Café, Nottingham and Shop- a multi-disciplined creative space based in Canning Circus.


De Facto

De Facto was formed in 1997 to create a team capable of taking branding projects and translating them creatively across all forms of media. From print to ecommerce, De Facto has built an excellent reputation for developing client brands - winning a number of prestigious national and international awards along the way.


PRODUCT DESIGN

& Then Design

Up and coming furniture design studio '& Then Design' is the creative venture between Nottingham Trent University Furniture Design graduates Samuel Wright & Jamie Bowler, who share a passion for creating beautiful, inimitable furniture for both the domestic and contract markets. As well as their successful furniture designs, & Then Design have completed their first interior design project; a Blues and Cocktail bar in Nottingham called Tilt.
& Then Design will unveil their new collection at 100% Design later this month.


QByke

Quadrabyke or QByke is an exciting new play bike for youngsters from age 3 - 6 years which is uniquely versatile in that it is 3 bikes in one. It quickly adapts to suit a child's growing confidence from a four wheel mini quad bike to a trike and then that all important first bike for children. Launched at the Nurnberg Toy Fair in February 2009, the QByke has received a fasntastic response from retailers and trade distributors around the world.


Philip Watts Design

Philip Watts Design is a creative design and build company, specialising in commercial interiors, complimented by a range of standard products which are all manufactured in Nottingham. These include portholes for doors and innovative ironmongery including handles, push & pull plates, kick plates, signage and stair nosings. Philip Watts Designs' Spoon sink designed in Nottingham went live in June. Designed in response to the award winning Spoon urinal, the Spoon sink is has a signature teardrop foot which creates a freestanding sculpture and is manufactured in a chalk-resin composite, a pioneering material.


DIGITAL MEDIA

Your Wardrobe Unlock'd

Your Wardrobe Unlock'd is a website providing accurate, practical and professional information on the recreation of historical clothing for costume makers working in historic locations, in re-enactment or in the theatre as well as for fashion students and makers of bridalwear. The website is a constantly growing resource benefiting from the expertise of costume makers both in Nottingham and around the globe. It now plays an important role within the costuming community and has over 250 paying members worldwide.


Style Compare

Style Compare is a dedicated fashion comparison website which displays over 23,000 fashion items by over 500 labels. Gaining contracts from some of the UK's largest fashion retailers, Style Compare has received over 25,000 visitors since going live in April 2009. Style Compare was set up by three young local men with the aim of adding value to the user shopping experience.


Vent Media

Vent is an artist led digital media production company specialising in creating and showcasing content for live events including theatre and dance, film production, interactive digital media projects, music events and outdoor projection. His recent work for the Lakeside's production of Stephen Lowe's 'Empty Bed Blues' captured the audience and complemented passionate tone of the piece

Source:www.thisisnottingham.co.uk|

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