Student & Graduate Stories - Art, Design and Fashion

Student & Graduate Stories - Gray's School of Art

Our graduates are renowned for their professionalism, knowledge, technical skills and adaptability. Read their stories to learn more about their experiences, projects and life after university.

Explore our courses and the wide variety of opportunities and range of experiences on offer and make a career out of your creative passion.

A Printfield 10 - Denis Law Legacy information board under a blue sky

Printfield 10 - Denis Law Legacy Trail has now been officially opened in Printfield, which highlights another example of how RGU is helping to transform people and communities.

Peter Gerlei, Gray's winner of OAA trophy design

A Three-Dimensional Design student from Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University (RGU) is celebrating success after winning the Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA) trophy competition.

Student designed football

Denis Law Legacy Trust has unveiled a new student-designed football that reflects the sparkling career of one of the city's greatest ever players.

Gray’s students from the Study Abroad Programme who are exhibiting in ‘aBROAD HORIZONS’ from left to right:  Laurie O'Dowd, Hannah Ramsay, Agnieszka Kubica, Kirsten Richardson, Megan Naysmith, Gabriela Proszowska, Esther Helfer, Maya Wilson, Evie Sneddon, Adriana Sarmiento Navarro.

A group of Fine Art and Design students from Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University (RGU) present ‘aBROAD HORIZONS’, a multidisciplinary student led and curated ‘Study abroad’ exhibition, that celebrates their experiences in a different country.

Gray's Fashion Show Photoshoot

Fashion and Textile students from Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University, are working with a team from Braemar Castle, to create a unique sustainable fashion collection that will be unveiled at Gray’s Fashion Show at Aberdeen Art Gallery on Friday 5 May.

CareerEnhancementAwards2023withrunnerupEilidhNaysmith,DeaconMartinWisemanandwinnerRuadhanCurran

Talented students from Gray’s School of Art at Robert Gordon University are celebrating success following an award’s ceremony at the historic North-East Aberdeen Weaver Incorporation.

Tia Taylor Berry posing

Gray’s School of Art is to host a solo exhibition curated by a talented artist awarded the prestigious Freelands Studio Fellowship.

Cruyff Court Neale Cooper in Torry

An interdisciplinary project at Robert Gordon University (RGU) involving three different academic schools has kicked off this semester as they collectively work together to discover the intricacies of community engagement and participation in a unique environment.

The students pose at Edit with their artwork

Communication Design students from RGU’s Gray’s School of Art will sell bespoke prints at Edit, the independent lifestyle store in the Bon Accord Centre, Aberdeen.

Ethan Williams

An intriguing black and white image of a woman walking in the very centre of Aberdeen’s Union Street has won the inaugural Charles Skene Street Portrait Photography Award.

Leanne Goodall artwork

As part of this project, students were tasked with illustrating book covers based on the classic J.M Barrie novel, Peter Pan.

Gray's School of Art Building

This project was created in collaboration with sound artist Samm Anga, hosted by Agora Digital Art and curated by Elizabeth Richardson

Newspaper Cover by Dexter Turriff-Davies

"If pain is the feeling of loss brought from failing to arrive at the destination that nationhood promises, where does this attachment to pain take us?"

Image shows Communication Design student, Bronny Farqhuar from Gray's, and Des Clarke and Simon Ferguson (right), Deputy Creative Director at Union Direct.

A student from Gray’s School of Art, at Robert Gordon University (RGU), has won a national award to create a campaign to encourage more people from ethnic communities in Scotland to give blood.

The murals as shot from above via drone

Two stunning murals of Denis Law have now been completed in Printfield, Woodside – the area in Aberdeen where the Scottish footballing legend was born and raised – and marks a milestone in planned legacy projects in Aberdeen.

Chiara Lamon Work

Morphe: The word morphe comes from the Greek “Shape”, “form”. In English it also means to evolve, change shape.

Lesley Dyker work

The aim of this project was to design a piece of jewellery that tells a story through design using casting processes.

Paul Nicol

‘The Traveller’, explores the concept of a fictional traveller from the future who has returned to the current time to observe, document and learn from humanity at this time when we are on the cusp of change regarding how we treat the planet.

Rachel Johnstone

Fashion Management student Rachel shares her experience in the RGU Motorsport Society and the benefits it has provided her.

Natalia Núñez Bolaño

"I didn’t know that I wanted to study journalism until my last year of high school. Since I was little, I had been jumping from one thought to another; my options ranged from being a dentist to an actress, but it wasn’t until I realised that writing was my passion that I decided to study journalism in RGU."

Natali Dimitrova

Natali Dimitrova, a BA (Hons) Media student from Bulgaria, writes about applying to RGU, her course experience and doing a placement during COVID-19.

Student Hannah on placement at STV

After obtaining an undergraduate degree in Nigeria, Hannah moved to Aberdeen to study a Master’s in Journalism at RGU. She spent four weeks on placement with STV, where she had the opportunity to work as a journalist and learn a wide variety of skills.

Student Lavanya at Aberdeen beach

MSc International Fashion Business Lavanya shares why she decided to study for a master’s degree at RGU and how her course and placement experience helped her develop essential skills and confidence to pursue a career in the fashion industry.

Hannah Jones on placement at Nike

RGU Fashion Management student Hannah Jones spent her third year of university on placement with Nike in Amsterdam. She shares more about her experience moving abroad and expanding her skills working for the multinational company.

Emmy Collins graduating

Once Emmy Collins realised in secondary school that a career in the fashion industry is what she wanted to pursue, she knew that university was the next best step to help broaden her knowledge and understanding of her passion - and it’s at RGU where she did just that.

Lauren Gordon

An Aberdonian student from Hazlehead Academy had only just graduated from Robert Gordon University (RGU) when she rejoined the institution to enrol in a master’s degree.

Jake Irvine

After working part-time with the RGU Marketing team on a video for the UnDiscovered Aberdeen campaign, Communication Design student Jake Irvine shares his experience and what he’s learned, along with his own perception of Aberdeen in this blog.

Simona Hodoňová

Simona graduated from RGU in 2020 with a degree in Communication Design and has since been growing her career working for a wide range of companies while building her own freelance business. She shares her experience at RGU as an international student and how what she learned at university has helped her post-graduation.

Andy Dicks

Magnetised to the cover art of the movies filling his dad’s near-endless DVD collection, the seed for creating visual concepts was planted with Andy Dicks from a young age.

Claire Bruce

In February 2004, Facebook launched for people to share their narratives of the day. But over at Gray’s School of Art, plans were in motion for another portfolio of stories to be shared.

Weronika Turowska

A “treasure trove of invaluable experiences” is how she reflects on her 2023 Degree Show. But the experiences didn’t stop there, Weronika Turowska gives us an update on the road to now.

Kirsty Skea

Tumbling over and grazing your knee, a common past time of our childhood. But could we have avoided those knocks and bruises? At her Gray’s Degree Show in 2023, Kirsty Skea explored that very thing

Karthik Sunil

It was an adventure back to his childhood through his Gray’s Degree Show in 2023. Kartik Suni turns back the clock to tell us about his exhibiting year in our Gray’s Degree Show Q&A.

Laura Sherriffs

After studying Fashion Design at Gray's School of Art, it didn't take long for Laura Sherriffs to start producing outdoor accessories under her brand Fernweh.

Eilidh Motion

Communication Design Alumna Eilidh is flourishing in her role as a Graphic Designer for a hotel in St Andrews. She shares her career evolution and achievements as well as how the course at RGU helped her in developing the skills needed for her work.

Shaun Stephen

After graduating in 2015, Shaun now manages the recruitment for Sky Creative.

Anna Younie

After graduating in 2018, Anna returned to her native Orkney to continue her practice as a Ceramics Designers.

Emma Grieshaber

After graduating in 2020, Emma has been featured on the London Fashion Week website under ‘the class of 2020’ as well as being featured on the British Fashion Council website for Graduate Preview day.

Fraser Stephen

Fraser graduated in 2010 and is now as a freelance cinematographer and manages the planning and creation of images on film and video projects.

Lauren Ferguson

Lauren is currently Graduate in Residence at Leith School of Art where she is developing her career and practice as an artist.

Zoe Buyers

As a freelance animation/motion designer Zoe has worked for a range of clients and agencies including: Form Digital, as a Motion Designer to create a range of animated social media content.

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