Project in pictures
See what happened in the Democracy by Design project.
Art, politics and design
Level 3 art and design students (BTEC National Diploma/A-Level) from across south London participated in Democracy by Design, a collaboration between the The University of the Arts, London, Widening Participation team and Parliament's Education Service.
The project aimed to take a creative approach to engaging young people with politics, as well as giving the students a chance to experience learning in a higher education environment.
Campaigns to encourage the youth vote
Over ten weeks participants worked with industry professionals and met politicians and others involved in politics and design.
Workshops coincided with the 2010 general election which inspired the project's objective: to design campaigns encouraging young people to get involved with politics and to vote.
Visiting Parliament
Students visited the Houses of Parliament and learned about the work and role of the institution and its members. The young people also explored the art collection with Curator Emma Gormley. They looked at a variety of works including political cartoons by Gerald Scarfe, illustrations by election artist David Godbolds and Margaret Thatcher's 'Spitting Image' puppet!
During their visit the students also met with Baroness McIntosh, member of the House of Lords and arts administrator, and asked her about politics, democracy and the arts.
In the studio
In the design studio, students also got to meet Jacob Sakil, Lewisham’s Young Mayor, and debate the importance of politics to young people today.
To design their campaigns the students worked with designer Jamie Ellul and tutor Mike Hurley over 10 weeks.
At Camberwell College of the Arts students learned how to make professional screen prints and combined their new skills with their design ideas to develop their campaigns.
The final products
Taking inspiration from a range of design concepts, new media trends and their own lives, the work produced ranged from typographic poster campaigns, t-shirts, websites, viral videos, touring festivals and dance moves.
The students' final work was exceptional. It was displayed in Portcullis House at the Houses of Parliament from mid-August to early September 2010.
Project acknowledgements:
Special thanks go to Baroness McIntosh, the Curator's Office at the Houses of Parliament, Malcolm Ball (advisor to the Young Mayor, Lewisham), Vivienne Reiss and Magpie Studios.
Find out more