If you look at Disney winners in purely practical terms you’ll miss the point

I would like to express my alarm at the recent feature on graphics students at Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design (DW 16 June). There were a number of examples displayed that suggested that graphic designers should stick with what they are good at:

A Mickey Mouse shaped plug and socket, sharp scissors, and a stapler that would encourage children to interact with these potentially dangerous products;

The generally low standard of product innovation. This word should be used with caution at the risk of undermining its already sceptical value in industry circles;

The Mickey Mouse typeface was good but that was one of the few graphic works on display.

Oh, and come up north for the best design students.

Craig Despard

MSc Industrial Design

University of Salford

despard@hotmail.com

Central St Martin’s students were asked to come up with ideas, not finished solutions, for the contest. The work we published represented very early concepts which have been built on considerably for the graphics students’ end-of-year CD-ROM, which I commend to you. Disney chose graphics students rather than a product design course to generate 3D ideas – an interesting challenge, and one that has been inspiring for everyone involved in the competition.

On the subject of location, design talent is not governed by geography: it can be found at colleges throughout the country. Most of the students involved in the Disney project don’t hail from London, or even the UK – Ed