Hartlepool's rugged beauty gets praise from international design expert

Visual communications expert Liv Taylor was the guest speaker at a lecture at Cleveland College of Art and Design.

The head of research at Patternity also gave display of images around the theme of patterns and their influence everyday life.

She also demonstrated how patterns can be used commercially and in narrative design to tell a story.

Afterwards, she said: “It was fantastic to share what we do at Patternity with such an engaged audience.

“The students at CCAD were really able to relate to our philosophy, and it’s great to hear that what I shared will feed into some of the brilliant work being created, giving them a new perspective to think about.”

She also praised the Hartlepool campus and local scenery for having “a real wealth of pattern inspiration – from the beautiful Victorian buildings to the rugged natural coastline, so I have no doubt students will be able to engage with, incorporate and tell stories about the local area into their work, which is something we think is really important at Patternity.”

One student Abigail McLean, 27, is on her first year of the BA (Hons) Contemporary Textile Products degree.

She said: “Liv brought the most amazing visual images for us to look at and I was fascinated by the patterns in biology and in nature and how they relate to the world around us. The lecture really spoke to me and I loved it.”

She said it would have a massive impact on her work.