Zixi Qu, first year Textile student from Loughborough University, is announced as the winner of the 2010 GoodWeave Rug Design Competition, after a lively and lengthy debate amongst the judges. The annual competition aims to raise awareness, amongst the Designers of tomorrow, of the ethical issues concerning the rug industry. It attracted the highest ever number of entries, from a record number of universities and colleges, and the judges were unanimous in their praise of the outstanding design talent exhibited.

Zixi Qu's rug design: first prize winner

Second prize went to Alison D'Oyley, another student at Loughborough University studying Textiles, with a design reflecting architectural shapes. Third prize went to Jack Godden, first year Embroidery student at Manchester Metropolitan University, who is also the first ever male prize winner in the competition; he explored the organic shapes of an ingeniously folded paper design inspired by laces.

Alison D'Oyley's Design		Jack Godden's Design

Over the coming three months, the three winning designs will be made up into high quality wool and silk rugs by competition sponsors Jacaranda Carpets and WovenGround.com, and will then be on show at Decorex International in September, on the GoodWeave stand. Decorex Marketing Manager, Hazel Willis is enthusiastic about the prospect of exhibiting the winning designs: "The competition is a fantastic opportunity for students to develop their talents and showcase their ability, and Decorex is delighted to be able to support these young designers at the very beginning of their journey into the world of design".