REVEAL; AOD’s Annual Graduate Design Showcase presented the innovative work of its recent graduates, showcasing incredible talent and revolutionary thinking which is essential for the future of creative industries in the country. As innovative thinking takes the forefront in the business world, industry professionals tend to give preference to those who display skills such as creative thinking, forethought and the ability to appeal to a specific cohort of customers in the most unique way.

With this in mind, industry heavyweights, leading organisations and big brands gathered to employ the latest cohort of professionally qualified designers in fashion design, graphic design, interior design and motion graphics & animation design, to lead creative innovation for their businesses at AOD’s REVEAL last weekend. For visitors, REVEAL was a unique platform to meet the young graduates and faculty of AOD to explore the creative industries and latest design innovation.

AOD nurtures young creative talent with direct exposure to international design expertise from a multi-talented faculty from all over the world which provides the students with up-todate knowledge and a worldview which is on par with international standards. Therefore, these Graduates are well-rounded in terms of design skills, a comprehensive education and industryreadiness with talents yet to be explored on a commercial scale. For Sri Lanka, REVEAL was a unique showcase of young creativity that unveiled new opportunities and potentials of how design can impact our everyday lives and elevate its overall quality.

REVEAL provided a rare opportunity to view the design work of the graduates and get a comprehensive insight to the project work and education at AOD and find some fantastic creative inspiration, with a very good viewpoint into how the services and products that are used today will become better and richer experiences in the future. The future prospects for the Sri Lankan fashion industry was to be clear from the new fusions between new fashion making technology and textile traditions like handloom and batik that are created by the fashion design graduates.

The young influencers in visual communication design will reshape the way consumers interact with brands, use books, watch movies, use entertainment and how information is communicated in the next decade. The Motion Graphics & Animation Designers showcased the best of their work in terms of 3D animation, game design, visual effects and film making marking the next generation of design which can be used in the entertainment as well as in health, education and a wide variety of industries. For young and aspiring designers it was a unique chance and a real opportunity to see what needs to be delivered in terms of design for the future and how design thinking must be developed.

For those considering a future in design, it was the perfect platform to meet AOD’s international faculty, alumni working in industry, fresh graduates and current students to find out more about studying and qualifying as a designer. The exclusive Industry Viewing of REVEAL with Chief Guest, Gill Caldicott - Country Director, British Council gracing the occasion, was especially curated in a way that enabled businesses from mega scale corporations to small and medium businesses, young brands and even individual entrepreneur led operations, to discover graduate talent that matches them, through projects and work samples that mirrored individual graduate specialisations.

In addition to making it easier for businesses to find the right designer, REVEAL 2017 also incorporated a series of industry awards that recognised traits and strengths that businesses would value in a designer. Awarded in collaboration with AOD’s industry partners, the awards highlighted graduates who performed exceptionally well in certain areas such as the most imaginative solution in graphic design, best storytelling in animation, Innovation in hand-woven textiles for fashion design and the sustainable award in interior design. This included Leo Burnett, Balmond Studio, Arimac/Idea Hell, Brandix’s TeeJay, MAS, Hirdaramani, Anim8, Colombo Design Studio, Dentsu Grant Group, We Are Designers, Mooniak Studio, Arimac, Ideas Shell, Ad Share, SHIFT, CDS, Coats Thread, True Digital Printing, PR, Nor Lanka, Emerald Shirts, Vogue Tex, JAT Holdings, A+ and Raux Brothers.

It provided a unique opportunity for businesses and organisations to handpick fresh design graduates who will take their brand or business to the next level. This event attracted a powerful audience of business leaders, HR and creative heads from a wide spectrum of industries from apparel, travel, hospitality, interior architecture, advertising, marketing and promotions to television and media. These industry power players were keen to interact with young design graduates, witness their creativity and innovation capabilities, and discover firsthand the kind of design talent that promises to push their business to the next level.

Reveal was held at the Trace Expert City in Colombo 10, from the 24th-26th November and became an effective hotspot for linking up businesses to fresh graduate design talent and the perfect opportunity for aspiring designers to get a great insight to the world of design. AOD is visionary institute that pioneered the professional design sector in Sri Lanka, trusted by industry for professionalizing the design talent in the country in partnership with Northumbria University UK, reco gnized by the University Grants Commission Sri Lanka. AOD presents complete UK design degrees with Northumbria University in Fashion, Graphic Design, Interior Design, Fashion Marketing as well as Motion Graphics and Animation Design as 100% inter nal Degrees that can be fully completed in Sri Lanka. For free design career counselling, or to understand more about studying Fashion, Fashion Marketing, Interior Design Studies, Graphic Design and Motion Graphics & Animation Design with 100%internal design degrees from Northumbria University UK, reach

AOD on 0775727772, 011 5867772 email [email protected] or walk in between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday - AOD, 29, Lauries Road, Colombo 4. www.aod.lk