A former Stratford-upon-Avon College student saw her creativity, passion and enthusiasm rewarded when she graduated from Nottingham Trent University this summer with a first-class honours degree in Graphic Design.
Loren Puopolo, from Solihull, studied Graphic Design at the College from 2015 to 2017 and has just completed a three-year degree at Nottingham Trent.
Loren credits the College course with helping her develop and progress to university and beyond – “Studying Graphic Design at college really opened my mind to all the routes available in the industry, from packaging to branding, and animation to illustration” – and is particularly grateful to her “amazing” tutor, Colin Flint: “He guided and encouraged me to push myself throughout the course. He prepared me for the university environment and provided a stepping stone for progressing further.”
Then, impressed with its facilities, tutors and progression opportunities – “There is an amazing energy and excitement there” – she chose to continue her graphic design studies at Nottingham Trent, where the experience and teaching she received guided her towards the kind of designer she wanted to be and instilled in her a particular love of illustration.
She is proud of one university graphic design assignment in particular – an animation and video project for which she created a campaign promoting equal rights for women in the creative industry: her Women Creatives in Power, which included videos and a series of artworks and posters, was designed “to educate and raise awareness of the inequality that women face in creative professions.”
So what’s next for Loren? She says she is fortunate in having always known she wanted to pursue a career in graphic design. “Being creative has always excited me from a young age. Creating and making something that people will stop to look at makes me feel excited about the future. “
Currently taking on freelance design work while she seeks employment in the Birmingham area in order to gain more experience, Loren is quite clear about her longer-term career plans: “I hope to move to London when the time is right and develop my skills further, working at an in-house design agency using my specialisms in book design, social impact campaigns, and illustration.”
You can view Loren’s work by visiting her website at lorenpuopolo.com and her Instagram page at @womencreativesinpower.
