THE CHRISTMAS MARKET
Against all odds, in the quiet of December leading up to Christmas, our fantastic collective members threw themselves into our mini market with an outcome greater than any of us expected. Following a busy week for Communication Design students handing in their first-semester work and a trip to INTL in Glasgow, eleven designers came together to share their work in our tucked-away studio in The Annexe on RGU Campus.
Hushed concerns of footfall and attendance tried to creep over the space but were steadily drowned out by the collective success of the room making close to £600 between them in a hasty 5 hours. We were proud of everyone who represented themselves at our market today because every single designer sold something, so we all had a lot to be grateful for. Thanks to the power of word of mouth and encouragement, we all rallied friends and flatmates to come all the way to Garthdee to join us for the event and many came away with nifty gifts that I’m sure will make their way into many stockings this Christmas.
Festive cheer remained high, even in the quiet moments of the day, as Christmas music drifted through to the ends of the corridor and into the surrounding studios.
Organiser, Chrissy Simms, is so proud and thankful for everyone who joined her in making this market come to life as this wouldn’t have been possible without the courage, enthusiasm and interest of the students.
One student wrote “Big thank you to Chrissy Simms again for organising the Fresh Slice Christmas Market. It was amazing to see everyone who was tabling’s work, Gray’s is full of such talented people”.
We are grateful for everyone’s involvement and are eager for the next opportunity to sell our work together. Special thank you to Jodie Barr and Julie Baghurst for volunteering to take payments for us at the checkout stall.
Next semester we will be interested to try out a co-working event where we come together to collaborate and share our work-in-progress projects with each other. In the past, we’ve primarily come together once a week to present our work in a crit circle but we all felt this new format might be more useful to apply ideas in the moment and build community within our collective. Watch this space!
Organiser Chrissy Simms with the marketeers from Stage 3 and Stage 4 Communication Design.
Left to Right: Emma King, Jenny Hyde, Louis Robert-Rocher, Chrissy Simms, Eden Hally, Caitlin Rennie, Caitlin Moffat, Nicole Franklin, Eloise Miller, Wren Graham (front).
