Graduate Summer Show 2014 at the RCA Kensington

The work on show from the 2014 graduates of the Schools of Architecture, Communication and Design at the Royal College of Art site in Kensington is as far-reaching, imaginative and all encompassing as the course titles they are grouped under: Design Interactions, Information Experience Design and Animation but to name a few. The only truly predictable thing about this show was the modern design fair layout. The work that fills it, however, obliterates any suggestion of humdrum. Each creator’s work vying for attention the show is a must for anyone with a taste for innovation and invention.

The production quality prototypes, slick layouts and impressive (if often bafflingly out there) concepts and inventions of the Product, Service and Vehicle Design students were tremendous. With a number of body extensive and experience enhancing gadgets to be tried on, tried out and interacted with, the show is far from a passive encounter. Much of the design in Product was sensitively rooted in problem solving and life improvement; bridging gaps between very real hindrances and the designers’ successful solutions.

In the Stevens building was a beautiful mix of the drawn, printed, sculpted, projected, installed, remote-controlled and even edible work from the School of Communication. More of a gallery space arrangement, much of the work was cleanly and originally presented and the frequently poetic content was allowed to shine through.

The areas housing the work of the Architecture and Interior design work was less accessible for those without a specific interest in the field. While still a display and celebration of the spectacular and fanciful imaginings of relatively unrestrained graduates, the quality of the proposal images and models was as impressive as the conceptual and sometimes political informants of the design.

It is a testament to the Royal College of Art as an institution and the drive of the students that make up its populace how areas of speciality have been mastered and in a number of cases, created from scratch.

Lauren Pennycott

RCA Graduate Summer Show 2014 is at the Royal College of Art until 29^th June 2014. For further information and listings of graduates visit the gallery’s website here.

Read our review of the RCA Graduate Summer Show 2014 of the Schools of Fine Art, Humanities and Material at the Battersea site here.