September 2010 – Zixi Qu, a Textile student from Loughborough University, is the winner of the 2010 GoodWeave Rug Design Competition, and will be attending Decorex on the GoodWeave stand G241, where her winning rug design will be on display, together with those of the second and third prize winners.

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.

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.

The three winning designs have been made into high quality wool and silk rugs by competition sponsors Jacaranda Carpets and WovenGround.com and are being displayed at Decorex, on the GoodWeave stand G241.

Students were asked to use one of the two themed mood boards, industrial or organic, and to design a luxurious, high quality rug for the top end of the market. Zixi Qu's design featured exotic birds in free flight, beautifully hand drawn and rendered in pastel pinks on an ivory background.

The winner, Zixi Qu explains her inspiration: "My initial research was based on natural forms developing into wildlife and birds, in particular. After experimenting with drawing birds in different positions, I found that having images of several birds allowed a greater creativity, with the interplay of shapes and curves. I chose birds in flight as the most interesting form, demonstrating power, activity, elegance and beauty. My colour palette is very neutral, because I feel it evokes a clean, soft, fresh and luxurious feel."

Samantha Towle, Executive Director of GoodWeave in the UK will also be at Decorex and hopes the competition will make design students think twice, when fully fledged designers: "If we can start students thinking about ethical issues, such as whether a child of ten should be forced to slave 16 hours a day to make a rug, there is hope they will embrace these issues once they start their careers".

For further information about the GoodWeave visit www.goodweave.org.uk or Tel: 07740 459279.

ENDS.

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